UC-NRLF 


SB    32 


GIFT  OF 


THE  STORT  OF  THE 

SARGENT  INDUSTRIAL   SCHOOL 

1891-1916 


THE  STORY  OF  THE 
SARGENT  INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOL 

AT  BEACON,  NEW  YORK 

1891-1916 

TOLD  BY 

SARAH  LOUISE  ARNOLD 

Dean  of  Simmons  College,  Boston 


PRINTED  FOR  THE  SCHOLARS 
1917 


D.  B.  UPDIKE  •  THE  MERRYMOUNT  PRESS  .  BOSTON 


To  see  that  all  is  fair  and  clean  —  to  cleanse  and 
purify  wherever  she  goes  —  to  set  disorderly  things 
in  orderly  array — this  is  a  woman's  mission.  RUSKIN 


3645" 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

FOREWORD  xi 

THE  STORY  OF  THE  SARGENT  INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOL  3 

DOMESTIC  SERVICE  COURSE  29 

MISS  PEARSON,  PRINCIPAL  INSTRUCTOR,  1892-1917  42 

SONG  FOR  THE  SARGENT  INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOL  47 

APPENDIX  55 

ALUMNAE  REPORT,  1900-1916  66 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Portrait  of  Mrs.  Winthrop  Sargent  Facing  page      3 

The  Sargent  Industrial  School  4 

The  Sun-Dial  8 

Prize  Winner  10 

The  Gymnasium  14 

The  Sunbonnet  Babies  1 9 

JL  Cookery  Class  22 

The  Bird  Fountain  26 

Six  Domestic  Pupils  39 

Miss  Jessie  Elizabeth  Pearson  42 


FOREWORD 

THOSE  who  thoughtfully  consider  the 
problem  of  education  in  our  democracy 
will  not  only  take  pride  in  the  achievements 
of  our  public  schools,  but  will  also  discover 
the  indispensable  contributions  made  through 
individual  initiative,  by  means  of  which  the 
common  ideal  is  lifted  and  the  common  work 
strengthened.  These  voluntary  and  individual 
additions  reinforce  the  typical  education  of  the 
day.  New  plans  are  freely  tested  because  new 
ideals  are  apprehended,  or  the  ideals  of  the 
past  more  clearly  recognized. 

For  such  experiments  absolute  freedom  is 
necessary, with  sufficient  time  to  work  out  and 
to  establish  the  plans  which  set  forth  the  new 
ideals.  Ultimately  the  insight  of  the  individual, 
thus  tested  and  approved,  takes  shape  in  our 
system  of  education,  and  this  individual  expe- 
rience is  thus  added  to  the  common  fund. 

Marked  examples  of  such  vision  and  such 
initiative,  which  have  re-formed  our  concep- 
tion of  education,  have  been  seen  in  the  work 


xii  FOREWORD 

of  Mrs.  Quincy  A.  Shaw,  who  founded  the 
Kindergarten  system  of  Boston  as  well  as  the 
Manual  Training  schools,  which  were  the  pre- 
cursors of  Industrial  Training ;  and  in  that  of 
Mrs.  Augustus  Hemenway,  to  whose  credit 
belongs  the  introduction  of  Home  Economics 
into  the  schools  of  Boston. 

Another  contribution,  less  widely  known 
but  no  less  significant,  is  that  of  Mrs.  Win- 
throp  Sargent  of  Boston  and  of  Beacon-on- 
Hudson,  who  has  for  twenty-five  years  main- 
tained and  developed  in  the  village  of  Mattea- 
wan,  New  York  (now  incorporated  into  the 
city  of  Beacon),  an  institution  which  clearly 
expresses  an  essential  ideal, —  the  Sargent  In- 
dustrial School.  Long  before  our  federal  gov- 
ernment expressed  by  law  its  appreciation  of 
the  importance  of  teaching  and  reinforcing  the 
American  home,  Mrs.  Sargent  was  putting  into 
practice  instruction  which  clearly  expressed 
the  principles  now  accepted  in  the  teaching  of 
Home  Economics, — working  out  in  the  vil- 
lages of  Matteawan  and  Fishkill  Landing  the 


FOREWORD  xiii 

type  of  instruction  which  is  now  commended 
throughout  the  country. 

The  story  of  Mrs.  Sargent's  work  is  briefly 
told  in  the  following  pages,  in  response  to 
the  earnest  desire  of  friends  who  believe  that 
efforts  like  hers  modify  community  ideals  and 
fulfill  a  most  important  mission,  quite  other 
than  that  of  the  public  schools.  As  far  as  possi- 
ble, this  intimate  account  is  given  in  the  words 
of  students,  alumnae,  neighbors,  and  other 
near  friends  of  the  school. 

Every  life  has  its  own  gift  to  bring, — adds 
its  own  color  to  the  web  which  we  are  weaving 
together.  The  writer  believes  that  the  unique 
work  of  Mrs.  Sargent,which  runs  like  a  golden 
thread  through  the  fabric  of  the  village  ex- 
perience of  Mattea wan,  clearly  discernible  in 
hundreds  of  homes,  will  bring  encouragement 
to  many  who  are  likewise  eager  to  share  with 
others,  by  some  such  means,  their  interpre- 
tation of  life. 

SARAH  LOUISE  ARNOLD 
Simmons  College,  Boston 
August,  1916 


THE   STORY  OF   THE 
SARGENT  INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOL 


:*-. 


THE  STORY  OF 
THE  SARGENT  INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOL1 

IT  was  in  1878,  thirty-eight  years  ago,  that  the 
Sargent  Industrial  School  really  had  its  begin- 
ning, when  Mrs.  Winthrop  Sargent,  a  generous  res- 
ident of  Fishkill-on-Hudson,  with  volunteer  asso- 
ciates, gathered  together  groups  of  children  in  St. 
Luke's  parish  and  there  opened  a  sewing  school.  As 
early  as  1888,  classes  met  in  Mrs.  Sargent's  beau- 
tiful home,  Wodenethe,  for  elementary  lessons  in 
cooking  and  housekeeping.  Without  interruption, 
during  the  years  which  followed,  Mrs.  Sargent  has 
maintained  and  developed  a  school  which  has  be- 
come an  integral  part  of  the  life  of  the  villages  to 
which  it  ministered.  To-day  the  school  numbers 
nearly  ten  thousand  pupils  who  have  received  in- 
struction ;  it  has  taught  children  of  three  successive 
generations,  sending  the  influence  of  the  school  into 
practically  every  home  in  the  neighboring  towns,  and 
reaching,  through  intimate  and  continuous  courses 
of  lessons,  literally  thousands  of  women  and  girls. 
From  the  beginning,  the  five  villages  adjacent 
to  Matteawan,  Fishkill  Landing,  Fishkill  Village, 
Glenham,  Tioronda,  and  Groville,  have  shared 

1  Free  use  has  been  made  of  abstracts  from  an  account  of  the  school 
which  appeared  in  the  Survey  of  April  2,  1910. 


4  THE   STORT  OF   THE 

together  the  advantages  of  the  school.  These  com- 
munities are  busied  with  manufacturing,  and  sup- 
port many  profitable  industries.  At  the  present  time 
the  manufacturing  population  gathered  in  these 
centres  contributing  and  relating  to  the  mills  num- 
bers more  than  ten  thousand  people.  In  1914  Mat- 
tea  wan  and  Fishkill  Landing  were  united,  becom- 
ing the  city  of  Beacon,  New  York. 

The  work  of  the  Sargent  School  is  carried  on  in 
a  group  of  school  buildings  situated  almost  on  the 
dividing  line  between  the  old  villages  of  Matteawan 
and  Fishkill  Landing.  These  buildings  consist  of 
a  fine  old-fashioned  country  house  set  in  the  most 
attractive  grounds,  which  furnishes  classrooms  for 
the  various  departments  of  the  school,  and  apart- 
ments for  the  residence  of  the  head  teachers  and  their 
assistants,  and  with  a  large  gymnasium,  where  in- 
struction in  physical  training  is  given  and  where  the 
exhibitions  of  the  school  and  all  the  school  enter- 
tainments are  held. 

The  buildings  are  shaded  by  noble  trees,  and  are 
set  in  ample  grounds,  which  form  fine  surround- 
ings for  the  group.  Among  the  chief  attractions  of 
the  place  are  a  beautiful  old-fashioned  garden  with 
box-edged  borders,  and  an  apple  orchard.  The  house 
is  large,  hospitable,  and  commanding,  with  broad 
white  porches  framed  in  wistaria.  Across  the  well- 


«         . 
' 

:  •*  •  • 

'.-   ':  •-.. 


SARGENT  INDUSTRIAL   SCHOOL         5 

keptgarden,  gay  with  its  perennial  flowers,  one  looks 
out  upon  Mount  Beacon  guarding  the  town  with  its 
steadfast  strength.  The  school  has  no  institutional 
aspect ;  it  presents  instead  all  the  attractiveness  of  a 
home  of  culture  and  refinement.  This  appearance  of 
the  school  shows  forth  its  real  character,  for  the  Sar- 
gent School  is  first  of  alia  home.  Within  its  walls  are 
carried  on  all  the  household  processes  for  the  sake  of 
the  family  which  lives  there.  Students  coming  and 
going  are  received  exactly  as  if  they  were  in  the  home 
of  a  friend.  Every  one  is  greeted  as  she  enters  and 
speaks  her  "Good-by"  as  she  goes.  The  ordinary 
happenings  of  the  ordinary  home  take  place  there. 
There  is  no  formal  and  separate  building  used  at 
specific  hours  merely  for  instruction,  but,  rather,  the 
teaching  takes  hold  of  all  the  interests  of  ordinary 
life. 

The  founder  intended  the  school  to  be  not  only 
a  home  for  the  teachers,  but  also  a  second  home  for 
the  students  who  are  welcomed  there.  These  girls 
are  interested  in  everything  that  belongs  to  the  estate 
—the  maintenance  of  the  house,  the  planting  of  the 
garden,  the  blossoming  of  the  apple  trees,  the  care 
of  the  grounds.  It  is  their  school  home,  and  many 
girls  have  been  associated  with  it  for  years.  Mrs. 
Sargent's  desire  is  apparent  on  every  hand,  for  the 
women  and  children  who  come  there  can  share  with 


6  THE   STORT  OF   THE 

her  all  the  interests  of  the  school  home,  and  can 
take  into  their  lives  the  satisfactions  which  the  finer 
housekeeping — and  homekeeping —  assure. 

As  has  been  said,  the  house  is  first  of  all  the  home 
in  which  the  teachers  of  the  school  live.  Here  they 
welcome  the  students,  young  girls  from  the  public 
schools  in  the  afternoons,  and  in  the  evening  teach- 
ers, housekeepers,  and  workers  from  the  factories. 
Classes  in  sewing  and  in  dressmaking,  in  cookery 
and  in  laundry  work,  are  in  progress  throughout 
the  afternoon  and  evening,  while  the  gymnasium  is 
regularly  occupied  by  classes  in  singing  and  in  phys- 
ical training,  including  games  and  dancing.  These 
last  classes  are  held  in  the  gymnasium,  which  was 
built  in  1905.  The  building,  which  was  designed 
by  the  distinguished  architect,  Francis  Richmond 
Allen  of  Boston,  is  most  harmoniously  related  to  the 
original  building.  It  is  set  among  the  overshadowing 
trees  on  the  western  slope.  Cypress  wood,  stained 
a  rich  natural  brown,  is  used  for  the  exterior  of  the 
building,  with  party- walls  of  brick,  while  heavy  piers 
of  brick  support  the  large  hall  within.  The  hall  is  fin- 
ished in  North  Carolina  pine,  likewise  stained,  with 
a  finely  grained  floor  of  maple.  Simplicity  marks  this 
main  hall.  Its  proportions  —  40x60  feet — afford 
ample  room  for  marching  and  countermarching  at 
the  drills  and  for  the  many  indoor  games.  At  one 


SARGENT  INDUSTRIAL    SCHOOL         7 

end  of  the  hall  is  a  stage,  where  plays  and  concerts 
take  place ;  at  the  other  end  are  the  dressing  rooms 
and  a  small  room  for  club  meetings. 

Through  the  past  year  more  than  seven  hundred 
girls  and  young  women  have  been  in  regular  at- 
tendance at  the  school.  Think  what  this  means  to 
the  community!  Into  at  least  seven  hundred  homes 
yearly  goes  wholesome  instruction  in  household  arts, 
and  all  the  conversation  that  attends  the  reports  of 
the  various  classes;  —  for  the  tone  of  the  incidental 
instruction  is  uplifting,  and  many  seeds  are  sown 
in  the  friendly  intercourse  between  teachers  and 
pupils. 

The  attendance  is  wholly  voluntary ;  the  girls  come 
because  they  want  to  come,  and  because  their  par- 
ents appreciate  the  opportunity  which  the  school 
.opens  for  them.  The  demand  exceeds  the  capacity 
of  the  school,  as  the  long  waiting  list  testifies.  Great 
emphasis  is  laid  upon  punctuality  and  regular  at- 
tendance. Day  after  day,  week  after  week,  the  chil- 
dren appear,  rarely  absent  or  tardy.  They  receive 
on  Prize  Day,  at  the  end  of  the  year,  the  badge  of 
yellow  ribbon  which  stands  for  regular  attendance, 
excellent  deportment,  and  satisfactory  achievement. 
When,  on  Prize  Day,  a  young  girl  appears,  decked 
with  five,  ten,  or  fifteen  of  these  yellow  badges,  one 
knows  that  she  has  secured  an  honorable  record 


8  THE   STORY  OF   THE 

through  class  after  class,  year  after  year,  —  for  each 
badge  represents  a  completed  year's  work. 

Thus  the  influence  of  this  school  has  been  stead- 
ily pouring  into  these  many  homes  through  many 
years.  Think  what  it  means  for  each  and  every  child 
to  have  developed  to  such  a  degree  this  power  of  reg- 
ular attendance  and  persistent  endeavor.  Imagine 
the  many  results  of  this  continued  association  with 
earnest  teachers  under  this  hospitable  roof,  and  in 
the  atmosphere  of  this  refined  home.  That  so  many 
children  eagerly  desire  to  attend  the  school  and  to 
share  its  advantages  is  in  itself  the  finest  tribute  to 
the  school. 

A  visitor  to  the  school  on  any  day  will  find  sev- 
eral classes  in  progress.  The  programme  provides  a 
five-years'  course  in  sewing,  a  two-years'  course  in 
dressmaking,  and  a  one-year  course  in  embroidery;  a 
two-years'  course  in  cooking,  one  year  in  the  house- 
keeping class,  one  year  in  laundry  work,  four  years 
in  physical  training,  with  added  courses  in  singing 
and  in  drawing.  Every  group  is  small  enough  to 
admit  of  intimate  association  and  individual  work. 
Children  are  admitted  to  the  first  classes  in  sewing 
and  to  the  gymnasium  when  seven  years  of  age. 
The  remaining  classes  consist  of  high  school  girls 
and  other  girls  or  young  women  who  have  left  school. 
The  intervening  years  are  filled  with  graded  courses 


The  Sun-Dial 

The  Sun-Dial  has  for  its  motto  :  "  Time  is  valuable  " 


SARGENT  INDUSTRIAL    SCHOOL         9 

in  succession.  The  evening  classes  in  dressmaking 
are  largely  made  up  of  members  who  are  teaching, 
keeping  house,  or  at  work  in  the  factories  during  the 
day.  The  courses  are  so  coherent  and  so  long  con- 
tinued that  a  girl  may  be  under  the  influence  of  the 
school  for  several  years. 

Although  the  possibility  of  continued  instruction 
extends  over  many  years,  Mrs.  Sargent  has  from  the 
beginning  provided  short  unit  courses.  She  recog- 
nized, as  did  Frederick  W.  Taylor  in  his  masterly 
programme  of  efficiency,  that  courage  and  endur- 
ance will  be  assured  if  the  worker  sees  the  end  from 
the  beginning.  She  therefore  provided  goals  which 
could  be  kept  in  view  by  the  children,  and  gave 
certain  rewards  of  accomplishment  to  lure  them  on. 
A  prize  of  some  sort  was  attached  to  the  satisfactory 
completion  of  every  course. 

So  it  came  about  that  the  year  at  the  Sargent 
School  is  crowned  by  i '  Prize  Day, ' '  when  the  grad- 
uates who  are  to  receive  certificates,  the  prize  win- 
ners, and  the  students  who  have  received  "  hon- 
orable mention ' '  assemble  in  the  gymnasium  with 
their  friends  to  receive  the  much  coveted  badge  of 
distinction  and  to  hear  their  names  read  from  the 
honor  roll.  In  the  early  days  of  the  school — through 
ten  years,  in  fact — prizes  were  given  for  regular 
attendance.  It  was  Mrs.  Sargent's  hope,  however, 


10  THE   STORT  OF   THE 

that  the  girls  would  grow  into  such  an  apprecia- 
tion of  their  task  that  the  material  prize  would  not 
be  necessary.  At  the  expiration  of  a  decade  she  said  : 
;  i  Now  we  are  ten  years  old.  Let  us  put  away  child- 
ish things,  and  rejoice  in  our  work  because  it  is  so 
well  worth  doing." 

Her  hopes  were  fulfilled.  Now  the  token  of  achieve- 
ment, "the  Prize,"  is  simply  a  yellow  ribbon  bear- 
ing the  name  of  the  school  and  department.  Every 
student  may  strive  for  this  recognition,  and  all  may 
win  it  if  they  strive  hard  enough.  The  ribbons  are 
greatly  prized  by  the  students,  and  many  a  home  in 
Matteawan  proudly  exhibits  a  collection  of  tokens 
which  indicate  long  and  faithful  association  with  the 
school. 

Mrs.  Sargent  has  felt  that  the  recognition  of  good 
work  by  means  of  prize-giving  has  been  of  great 
value  to  the  school.  The  courses  in  each  department 
have  been  carefully  graded  and  the  satisfactory  com- 
pletion of  each  course  has  been  marked  by  the  prize. 
The  pupils  pledge  themselves  to  regular  attendance; 
any  pupil  obliged  to  be  absent  must  send  an  excuse 
to  her  teacher.  Two  unexcused  absences,  or  habitual 
tardiness,  necessitate  withdrawal  from  the  school. 
Marks  are  based  upon  "attendance,  punctuality, 
courtesy,  neatness,  industry,  attention,  and  excellent 
work."  The  Year-book  of  the  school  says: 


This  Student  conceived  the  idea  of  presenting  in  this  fashion  the 
prizes  she  had  earned.  She  had  followed  every  course  and  secured 
every  prize  attainable. 


SARGENT  INDUSTRIAL    SCHOOL       11 

A  prize  will  be  given  on  Prize  Day  to  a  pupil  who  has 
not  been  absent  during  the  school  year  for  her  own  plea- 
sure, or  above  three  times  for  a  suitable  reason,  whose  aver- 
age is  eighty-eight  per  cent,  or  more,  who  has  satisfactorily 
completed  the  year's  work,  and  whose  standing  is  excellent. 
u  Honorable  Mention"  will  be  given  in  addition  to  the  prizes 
to  a  pupil  who  has  not  been  absent  during  the  school  year, 
whose  average  is  ninety-five  per  cent  or  more.  A  certificate 
will  be  presented  to  each  pupil  who  has,  in  the  judgment  of 
her  teacher,  successfully  completed  a  course  in  one  of  the 
departments  of  the  school. 

These  certificates  are  parchments  bearing  the  sym- 
bol of  the  school,  the ' c  beehive, ' '  and  signed  by  Mrs. 
Sargent  and  the  teacher  of  the  department.  They 
are  almost  invariably  framed,  and  may  be  found" 
hanging  upon  the  walls  of  hundreds  of  homes  in  the 
neighborhood. 

The  gift  of  the  school  is  two-fold.  The  young  stu- 
dent carries  home  with  her  a  clearer  idea  of  the  task 
which  she  is  to  perform  there;  but  she  also  carries  a 
finer  ideal  which  imperceptibly  but  assuredly  affects 
and  determines  her  own  standard  of  living.  Mrs. 
Sargent  gives  her  personal  attention  to  the  school, 
and  its  welfare  has  been  her  chief  interest  through 
all  these  years.  She  has  not  merely  supported  it,  but 
she  has  always  given  herself  without  stint,  not  only 
determining  its  general  movement,  but  also  know- 
ing its  smallest  details.  She  has  been  much  with  the 


12  THE   STORY  OF   THE 

school,  and  the  children  always  welcome  her  pres- 
ence. One  of  the  Alumnae  in  a  recent  letter  says: 
To  me  the  S.  I.  S.  has  always  been  Mrs.  Sargent.  Once 
in  cooking  class  she  patted  my  shoulder.  That  was  a  memo- 
rable day.  Then  in  gym  exhibition,  the  thrills  as  we  marched 
by  and  saluted  her !  Then  to  rise  with  the  class  when  she  enters 
the  room!  These  are  my  finest  memories. 

So  without  preaching,  and  through  wholly  genuine 
and  helpful  practice,  the  girls  grow  up  under  this 
beneficent  influence.  If  their  homes  are  happier  and 
better,  it  is  not  by  virtue  of  perfunctory  lessons, 
but  because  they  are  following  after  the  ideals  which 
are  present  always  in  the  life  as  well  as  in  the  gift 
of  their  beloved  friend. 

Of  course  Mrs.  Sargent  has  gathered  about  her 
teachers  who  are  similarly  devoted  to  their  task  and 
whose  influence  is  likewise  most  helpful.  Miss  Pear- 
son, who  is  now  immediately  in  charge  of  the  work, 
has  been  for  twenty-four  years  connected  with  the 
school.  She  welcomes  the  daughter  or  the  younger 
sister  of  the  older  student,  and  builds  her  every  les- 
son upon  the  foundation  of  the  earlier  training  which 
the  school  has  provided  for  their  home.  One  of  the 
teachers  of  sewing,  Miss  Alice  Taylor,  received  her 
training  in  the  school — entering  in  1891  when  only 
seven  years  old.  As  student  and  teacher  she  has  been 
associated  with  the  school  for  twenty-five  years.  Her 


SARGENT  INDUSTRIAL    SCHOOL       13 

presence  is  a  valuable  connecting  link,  for  she  is  well 
prepared  to  serve  as  an  interpreter.  The  stability 
and  continuity  of  the  enterprise  have  assured  per- 
manence of  ideals  and  have  secured  the  complete 
confidence  of  the  community,  where  it  has  been  for 
so  many  years  a  source  of  satisfaction  and  pride  to 
the  residents. 

The  relation  of  the  community  to  the  school  is 
strengthened  and  continued  by  means  of  the  Alum- 
nae Association.  All  who  have  been  students  at  the 
Sargent  School  may  become  members  of  the  Alum- 
nae Association.  The  latchstring  is  always  out  for 
the  Alumnae.  Correspondence  is  maintained  with 
them  after  they  leave  the  school.  At  the  present  time, 
as  the  summary  in  the  Appendix  shows,  the  Alum- 
nae are  distributed  through  eleven  states,  and  are 
found  in  Canada  and  even  in  China.  Since  at  the 
present  time  the  total  enrollment  numbers  nearly  ten 
thousand  (9820),  it  is  evident  that  the  influence  of 
the  school  is  widely  felt.  The  Alumnae  meet  regu- 
larly at  the  school,  nursing  some  course  of  study  or 
arranging  some  programme  for  the  entertainment 
of  the  students.  They  wear  a  badge  whose  design 
(made  by  one  of  the  students)  includes  the  symbolic 
1  '  beehive."  One  year,  under  a  competent  instruc- 
tor, they  pursued  travel  courses  with  associated  read- 
ing. Hawthorne's  ' '  Marble  Faun, ' '  illustrated  with 


14  THE   STORT  OF   THE 

areflectorscope,  claimed  their  attention  another  year. 
Recently  they  gave  their  evenings  to  the  study  of 
Dickens.  After  the  Hudson-Fulton  celebration  they 
united  with  the  school  in  presenting  an  evening 
pageant  which  represented  scenes  in  the  early  his- 
tory of  the  town.  It  is  evident  that  the  influence 
which  begins  in  the  school-home  does  not  end  there. 

These  selfsame  ' ( Alumnae ' '  are  leaders  in  every 
advance.  Mrs.  Sargent  often  alludes  to  the  older 
group  as  the  "Old  Guard."  They  established  at 
Tioronda,  a  village  centred  about  a  brickyard,  a 
sewing  school  which  they  themselves  taught.  They 
organized  the  first  classes  in  physical  training  in  the 
Sargent  School,  using  the  classrooms  on  the  vacant 
evenings  of  the  week,  until  the  full  and  regular 
attendance  attested  the  demand  and  Mrs.  Sargent 
met  the  evident  desire  thus  expressed  by  building 
the  beautiful  gymnasium.  Here  again  the  demand 
not  only  proved  the  need,  but  exceeded  the  capacity. 

This  illustrates  one  of  Mrs.  Sargent's  principles 
of  action.  The  school  has  always  grown  from  within 
outward.  The  five  years'  experience  with  the  early 
sewing  groups,  then  the  successful  classes  in  the 
kitchen  of  her  own  house,  demonstrated  the  need 
which  she  met  by  providing  a  cottage  which  Mr. 
Sargent  named ' '  The  Beehive. ' '  The  overflow  of  the 
Beehive  and  the  plea  for  more  classes  led  to  the  buy- 


SARGENT  INDUSTRIAL   SCHOOL       15 

ing  and  fitting  up  of  the  Rothery  house,  the  present 
home  of  the  school.  Then  again  the  overflow  called 
for  the  gymnasium.  Every  advance  has  been  neces- 
sitated by  the  growth  of  sentiment,  of  desire,  of  the 
common  recognition  of  a  public  need.  This  organic 
growth  is  very  different  from  the  erection  of  a  build- 
ing with  the  hope  that  the  demand  will  follow.  It  is 
evident  that  the  method  of  the  Sargent  School  ex- 
presses a  much  more  vital  relation  to  the  community. 

The  following  outline  indicates  the  steps  in  the 
development  of  the  institution.  One  reads  between 
the  lines  something  of  the  courage  and  faith,  the 
patience  and  persistence,  which  have  attended  the 
enterprise  from  the  beginning : 

1878.  Mrs.  Sargent  opened  the  sewing  school  in 
the  schoolhouse  on  St.  Luke's  grounds.  It  was  called 
St.  Luke's  Sewing  School.  This  was  conducted  by 
Mrs.  Sargent  with  volunteer  teachers  until  the  end 
of  1889. 

1883.  With  the  help  of  Miss  Emily  Huntington, 
the  kitchen  garden  was  inaugurated.  Mrs.  Sargent 
and  ladies  in  the  neighborhood  who  were  instructed, 
in  turn  became  teachers  of  the  kitchen  garden. 

1884.  Two  classes  in  kitchen  garden — Wednes- 
days and  Fridays.  Mrs.  Sargent  and  other  teachers. 
This  experiment  was  carried  on  five  years. 


16  THE   STORT  OF   THE 

1888.  Cooking  school  started  at  Wodenethe,  Mrs. 
Sargent's  country  home,  taught  by  Mrs.  Sargent's 
cook.  Weekly  lessons  for  three  months  and  class  of 
thirteen  girls. 

1889.  The  cooking  school  course  repeated  at 
Wodenethe. 

1891.  "The  Beehive"  House  on  Washington 
street,  Matteawan,  leased  by  Mrs.  Sargent  and  con- 
ducted by  resident  teachers.  The  cooking  school 
started  with  twenty-eight  pupils  and  ended  its  first 
season  with  fifty-three.  The  second  year's  classes 
opened  with  twenty-nine  students  and  closed  with 
seventy-six.  Classes  in  cooking  and  sewing. 

1893.  Laundry  work  added.  One  hundred  pu- 
pils in  the  Beehive. 

1893-4.  One  hundred  and  eighty-one  attended 
the  opening  classes. 

1894—5.  Beehive  continued.  Two  hundred  and 
eighteen  students  enrolled. 

1897-8.  In  1898  the  school  removed  to  its  new 
house,  the  Roth ery Homestead.  June  16,  celebration 
of  Founder's  Day.  Reunion  of  the  alumnae.  Two 
hundred  and  twenty  students. 

1905.  Gymnasium  erected.  Five  hundred  and 
sixty-six  students. 

1916.    Seven  hundred   and   nineteen  students. 


SARGENT  INDUSTRIAL   SCHOOL       17 

Founder's  Day,  June  6.  Twenty-fifth  anniversary 
of  the  founding  of  the  school.  Total  enrollment, 
9820. 

On  Founder's  Day  in  June,  a  public  exhibition  is 
given,  with  a  garden  party  open  to  all  the  friends 
of  the  school.  June  16  is  Mrs.  Sargent's  birthday 
and  so  the  celebration  is  a  double  one.  The  grounds 
are  thronged  with  visitors,  and  the  children,  only  less 
proud  than  their  parents,  act  as  hosts.  This  is  the 
day  of  days  at  the  Sargent  School  and  affords  some 
measure  of  the  harvest  of  the  years.  This  year,  1916, 
celebration  was  held  on  June  6,  and  marked  the 
completion  of  the  twenty -fifth  year  of  the  school. 
The  people  of  Beacon,  in  expression  of  their  appre- 
ciation of  the  school,  made  the  day  a  holiday  for  all 
the  children  of  Beacon,  closing  the  public  and  paro- 
chial schools.  Over  two  thousand  people  gathered 
at  the  school  to  join  in  the  festivities.  The  work  of 
the  year  was  exhibited  as  usual ;  the  pupils,  as  in 
previous  years,  formed  in  line  and  marched  through 
the  garden  to  the  grounds,  singing  as  they  went. 
They  passed  Mrs.  Sargent,  each  receiving  recogni- 
tion from  her,  and  then  escorted  her  to  the  gymna- 
sium, whose  door  she  unlocked,  thus  opening  the 
exhibit  to  the  assembled  guests.  An  added  feature  of 
the  day,  a  gratifying  surprise  to  the  founder  of  the 


18 

school,  was  the  presentation  of  a  silver  loving  cup 
by  the  townspeople,  who  had  assembled  to  do  honor 
to  the  founder  of  their  beloved  school. 

Nothing  could  have  been  more  significant  than 
the  good  feeling  expressed  everywhere  on  this  day 
—  the  happy  gift  of  the  holiday  to  the  children  and 
the  graceful  presentation  of  the  loving  cup.  Every 
one  felt  the  warmth  and  glow  of  feeling  which  was 
everywhere  present,  and  which  showed  that  the  resi- 
dents of  the  city  of  Beacon  appreciated  the  gift  which 
had  been  bestowed  upon  them  through  these  many 
patient  years. 

A  marked  feature  of  the  Sargent  School  has  always 
been  the  children's  devotion  to  the  school  and  their 
evident  delight  in  their  work.  Their  faces  are  radi- 
ant as  they  stand  in  line  waiting  for  the  places  of  the 
outgoing  class,  or  share  the  little  feast  which  they 
themselves  have  prepared  in  the  cooking  class,  as- 
semble to  compare  their  exhibits  in  sewing,  or  join 
in  the  marches  and  dances  in  the  gymnasium.  Noth- 
ing seems  a  bore,  a  mere  routine.  Since  every  girl 
comes  because  she  wants  to  come,  allurement  takes 
the  place  of  compulsion.  The  students  accept  loyally 
the  ideals  of  the  school,  and  its  every  appeal  meets 
with  their  full  cooperation. 

The  school  has  appealed  to  a  fine  group  in  the 


The  Sunbonnet  Babies 


SARGENT  INDUSTRIAL    SCHOOL       19 

community — self-respecting,  ambitious,  and  able  to 
appreciate  the  purpose  of  the  founder.  The  long  wait- 
ing list  shows  that  parents  have  confidence  in  the  en- 
terprise. "My  girl's  name  has  been  on  the  list  three 
years,"  one  mother  says.  "Can't  you  take  her  in 
this  year?  "  The  home  cooperates  with  the  children 
in  securing  regular  attendance  and  full  compliance 
with  the  school  requirements.  The  mothers  come 
to  explain  absences  and  to  obtain  directions  for  the 
work  of  the  children.  One  little  girl  recently  fell  into 
the  creek  on  her  way  to  her  lesson.  She  refused  to  go 
home  for  dry  clothing  and  instead  presented  herself 
dripping  wet  at  the  school,  where  she  was  properly 
dried — a  messenger  being  sent  home  for  dry  cloth- 
ing. Whatever  happened,  she  could  not  "  miss  "  the 
lesson. 

Graduates  frequently  report  their  indebtedness  to 
the  instruction  received  at  the  school.  The  class  in 
housekeeping  studies  the  requirements  of  site,  drain- 
age, sanitation,  and  furnishing,  and  prepares  simple 
plans  for  every  room  in  the  house.  A  recent  gradu- 
ate, who  married  and  established  a  home,  followed 
with  great  exactness  the  plans  which  the  class  had 
approved.  Many  of  the  furnishings  had  been  pro- 
vided with  her  own  hand,  and  all  were  in  accord  with 
the  instruction  which  the  class  in  home-making  had 
received .  Another  wrote : 


20  THE   STORT  OF   THE 

Of  course,  in  my  mind  is  the  appreciation  of  what  the 
school  is  to  the  community;  and  now  that  the  educational 
world  is  giving  so  much  time  to  Domestic  Science,  I  am  glad 
the  words  calorie,  protein,  carbohydrates,  and  their  relation 
to  every  day  life  are  not  mysteries  to  me.  Also  that  I  have 
a  working  basis  for  intelligent  cooking  and  housekeeping  in 
my  own  home. 

The  letters  received  by  Mrs.  Sargent  from  former 
students  are  interesting  and  genuine : 

It  is  so  good  for  the  young  girls  to  learn  while  they  have 
a  chance,  for  I  expect  some  day  to  be  a  housewife.  I  am  now 
a  servant  and  am  getting  along  beautifully  with  my  cooking. 
I  expect  some  day  to  make  dresses  for  myself  and  also  for 
my  children. 

I  have  been  going  to  sewing  school  more  than  two  terms. 
I  wanted  to  go  at  first  so  I  could  learn  to  make  doll  clothes. 
Mamma  hopes  that  I  can  go  until  I  learn  to  be  a  dressmaker. 

I  think  the  school  is  grand.  I  take  great  pleasure  in  at- 
tending it.  I  also  think  it  very  kind  of  you  to  interest  yourself 
in  us  children.  It  ought  to  make  good  wives  and  mothers  of 
us.  I  am  learning  to  sew  patches  on.  I  am  nine  years  old. 

I  have  always  wished  to  learn  to  make  my  own  clothes, 
but  never  had  the  opportunity  until  now, — having  to  work 
in  the  shop  all  day.  Last  year  I  finished  the  cooking  class. 
I  shall  never  forget  the  pleasant  and  useful  hours  in  the  dear 
old  Beehive. 

I  have  come  five  years  to  sewing  class  and  have  only 
missed  one  day.  Edna  has  come  three  years  and  has  missed 
no  days. 

One  of  the  graduates  of  the  Sargent  School  (in  1899), 


SARGENT  INDUSTRIAL    SCHOOL       21 

Alice  M.  Crosby,  now  a  member  of  the  New  York 
Bar,  has  written  as  follows  concerning  the  school : 

For  hundreds  of  years  philanthropists  have  been  attempt- 
ing to  ameliorate  in  some  degree  the  condition  of  the  very 
poor  by  giving  some  slight  attention  to  their  material  needs, 
but  until  very  recently,  self-supporting  people  who  do  not  re- 
quire charity  were  not  supposed  to  have  any  problems.  Bea- 
con, a  city  of  about  10,OOO  inhabitants,  offers  factory  employ- 
ment to  approximately  1180  women,  who  for  the  most  part 
are  well  paid.  We  have  no  child  labor,  no  strikes,  no  lack  of 
work  in  normal  times,  no  overcrowded  tenement  houses,  and 
no  peculiar  moral  conditions  confronting  us.  Recently  we  have 
been  told  these  things  about  ourselves.  Twenty-five  years  ago 
neither  individually  nor  as  a  community  were  conditions  sup- 
posed by  most  people  to  be  other  than  extremely  satisfactory. 
What  more  could  a  girl  desire  than  to  have  well-paid  labor 
here  in  town  ? 

Mrs.  Sargent  was  far  in  advance  of  her  time  in  realizing 
that  people  who  will  never  desire  material  things  given  them 
may  nevertheless  lead  impoverished  lives  because  of  lack  of 
ideals.  At  the  time  of  the  founding  of  the  Sargent  School, 
the  tangent  had  swung  far  away  from  the  home  and  taken 
hundreds  of  girls  into  the  factories.  Moreover,  homekeeping 
did  not  then  occupy  its  present  dignified  position  as  a  science, 
and  the  earning  of  money  outside  the  home  was  considered 
a  superior  occupation.  One  cannot  even  attempt  to  estimate 
the  value  to  this  community  of  the  Sargent  School.  There  is 
nothing  of  the  same  age  in  a  similar  locality  with  which  to 
compare  it.  How  can  one  state  in  definite  terms  an  intangible 
asset  like  furnishing  full  development  of  womanly  instincts  ? 
We  can  see  many  motherless  girls  providing  homes  for  the 
father  and  smaller  children  because  of  knowledge  gained  at 
the  Sargent  School.  We  know  that  many  women  founding 


22  THE   STORT  OF   THE 

homes  of  their  own  are  saved  the  annoyance  and  discomfort 
of  learning  everything  about  the  home  at  first  hand.  We 
can  see  that  the  taxpayers  are  annually  saved  large  sums  of 
money  because  they  are  spared  the  necessity  of  being  required 
to  supply  domestic  science  courses  in  our  public  schools. 

It  is  natural,  however,  to  take  things  for  granted  and  not 
to  realize  all  that  has  been  done  for  us  through  this  fine  in- 
stitution. Women  have  been  for  the  last  twenty-five  years  in 
a  transition  stage  and  it  is  extremely  hard  to  estimate  what 
their  future  position  will  be.  The  modern  woman  has  the  diffi- 
cult duty  of  having  to  be  twofold  prepared,  both  to  gain  her 
livelihood  and  to  manage  a  home  properly.  It  takes  time  to 
get  the  proper  perspective,  but  future  years  may  show  that 
the  most  valuable  contribution  to  the  community  from  the 
Sargent  School  has  been  the  striking  of  the  proper  balance, 
the  counteracting  the  one-sided  development,  which  the  ex- 
tensive industrial  life  gives  us. 

A  graduate  of  the  school  and  of  Cornell  University 
in  1900,  now  a  physician,  writes  from  Ithaca: 

So  far  as  being  a  bright  and  shining  exam  pie  of  the  work  of 
the  Sargent  Industrial  School,  I  surely  would  not  be  a  credit, 
but  when  it  comes  to  appreciating  the  work  and  realizing  its 
possibilities,  I  could  write  a  great  deal.  I  have  never  seen  a 
school  like  it  anywhere,  so  do  not  know  how  to  compare 
it,  but  I  am  very  sure  that  the  value  it  is  to  a  community 
cannot  be  overestimated.  Here  in  Ithaca  we  need  very  much 
a  woman's  building,  but  there  is  no  Mrs.  Sargent  to  support 
it — consequently  we  do  not  get  the  building  or  the  work. 
There  is  a  splendid  course  in  the  University  in  Domestic 
Economy,  but  that  is  available  only  for  the  girls  who  can 
spend  four  years  and  have  plenty  of  money  to  take  it. 

Does  Mrs.  Salman  come  for  the  "gym"  work  now?  I  so 


SARGENT  INDUSTRIAL    SCHOOL       23 

often  think  of  the  way  she  conducted  those  classes  and  wish 
we  might  have  such  an  inspiring  instructor  here. 

A  graduate  in  1894  writes  from  Toronto,  Canada: 
The  subject  of  your  letter  interests  me  exceedingly  as 
Mrs.  Sargent's  philanthropic  work  is  different  from  any  other 
that  I  have  seen.  Of  course  there  are  the  Technical  Schools 
in  cities  that  are  large  enough  to  support  such  institutions  but 
Mrs.  Sargent  brought  to  a  small  place  what  such  a  place  per- 
haps never  thought  of,  and  it  was  done  in  such  a  way  that  no- 
good  girl  was  excluded.  Her  work  is  to  my  mind  the  only 
kind  of  philanthropic  work  worth  while,  as  it  does  not  bring 
help  to  a  few  in  a  way  to  make  that  few  more  helpless  and 
dependent  on  others,  as  is  often  the  case  with  charities,  but 
it  does  bring  real  help  to  all  who  wish  to  learn  to  help  them- 
selves. This  school  has  not  only  taught  the  girl,  who  has  her 
living  to  earn,  how  to  earn  it,  but  it  has  fitted  other  girls  to 
take  up  their  own  households  in  a  more  intelligent  and  sys- 
tematic way.  I  remember  hearing  Mrs.  Sargent  say  that  there 
is  no  place  where  intelligence  counts  more  than  in  the  per- 
formance of  household  duties.  She  is  absolutely  correct,  as  one 
can  testify  who  employs  any  person  or  persons  in  household 
tasks. The  S.  I.  S.has  a  lasting  influence  in  forming  the  highest 
ideals  among  its  students  partially  because  Mrs.  Sargent  has 
not  only  given  of  her  thought  and  of  her  means  but  of  herself. 
Her  frequent  visits  to  the  school  with  her  charming  person- 
ality are,  I  am  sure,  an  incentive  to  many  of  the  girls.  This, 
combined  with  the  efficient  staff  with  which  she  has  always  sur- 
rounded the  school,  has  made  the  school  a  wonderful  success. 
You  know  it  is  a  long  time  since  I  have  visited  the  school 
but  many  dear  and  pleasant  memories  are  always  with  me 
in  connection  with  the  lovely  school  on  the  hill.  I  look  back 
often  and  consider  my  association  with  the  Saturday  morning 
class  as  having  been  not  only  pleasant  but  a  great  help  to  me. 


24  THE   STORT  OF   THE 

Another  graduate  of  the  same  year,  writing  from 
Los  Angeles,  California,  says: 

I  have  been  trying  to  think  since  receiving  jour  letter 
what  I  could  say  in  a  few  words  about  the  Sargent  Indus- 
trial School.  It  means  so  much  to  its  members,  its  influence 
has  been  so  widespread.  Starting  as  it  did  in  a  small  way  and 
gradually  growing  until  it  has  reached  its  present  state  of  com- 
pleteness. To  me  it  stands  for  progress,  usefulness  and  refine- 
ment in  all  branches  which  go  to  make  good  home-makers 
of  our  girls.  Any  girl  who  has  ever  been  a  student  in  the  Sar- 
gent Industrial  School  can  never  shake  off  the  influence  of  the 
refining  environment  which  surrounds  her  in  whatever  branch 
of  the  school  she  takes  up,  be  it  cooking,  sewing,  laundry 
work  or  in  the  finer  arts  of  embroidery,  painting  and  physical 
training.  And  the  thought  which  conceived  it  all  coming  from 
Mrs.  Sargent,  she  chose  the  highest  philanthropy  of  all  which 
is — To  help  others  to  help  themselves. 

Another   graduate,   afterwards   of  Vassar,   1912, 
writes  from  New  York: 

I  feel  that  Mrs.  Sargent  is  doing  a  very  worth  while  work. 
My  educational  experience  has  shown  me  the  great  impor- 
tance to  the  growing  boy  or  girl  of  hand  work  or  industrial 
work.  Ideally  it  ought  to  be  linked  up  with  work  of  the  day 
school  and  provide  problems  which  the  student  would  bring 
to  the  classroom  to  solve,  but  as  this  is  not  yet  done  in  the 
majority  of  our  schools — altho  the  attempt  is  being  made 
here  and  there — it  remains  for  a  few  wise-minded  citizens  to 
provide  that  which  the  state  ought  to  provide.  Great  credit, 
I  think,  is  due  Mrs.  Sargent  for  her  school,  which  is  correct- 
ing in  its  field,  the  one-sidedness  of  our  present  education. 


SARGENT  INDUSTRIAL    SCHOOL       25 

The  Matteawan  Journal  in  an  editorial  comments 
thus  on  the  work  of  the  school : 

Thanks  to  the  Sargent  Industrial  School,  the  young  women 
of  the  town  are  learning  the  art  of  home-making  and  learn- 
ing it  as  it  should  be  learned — not  through  the  medium  of 
necessity.  When  education  comes  through  necessity  it  is  fre- 
quently irksome,  and  the  element  of  joy  being  thus  removed, 
beauty  soon  follows  it.  Girls  go  to  the  Sargent  Industrial 
School  to  learn  housewifery,  not  because  they  are  obliged  to, 
but  because  they  want  to;  there  the  subject  is  made  interest- 
ing to  them  and  through  friendly  rivalry  they  are  spurred  on 
to  real  creative  work  of  their  own. 

A  business  man  writes  concerning  the  school: 

Not  long  ago  I  heard  a  young  woman  say,  u  I  would  n't 
have  missed  my  classes  at  the  Sargent  School  for  anything. 
They  were  fine.  I  may  never  have  a  home  of  my  own,  but 
if  I  ever  do,  I  '11  know  exactly  what  I  want  in  it — thanks  to 
my  lessons  there."  I  could  mention  several  who  have  told  me 
of  the  benefit  received  from  the  Sewing  and  Dressmaking 
Classes.  As  one  married  woman  expressed  it,  "  Why,  just 
the  little  things  I  learned — how  to  put  on  a  collar  the  easiest 
way,  and  things  of  that  sort — just  those  things  were  worth 
all  I  put  into  it  and  more."  I  have  heard  several  mothers 
speak  of  the  benefit  the  Physical  Culture  Class  has  been  to 
their  daughters,  and  right  here  I  would  add  a  word  of  ap- 
preciation for  what  that  particular  class  meant  to  my  own 
daughter.  Quite  recently  I  heard  a  mother  say  that  since 
her  daughter  had  joined  the  Cooking  Class  at  the  Sargent 
School,  the  daughter  had  been  willing  to  do  her  share  of  the 
cooking,  and  so  the  home  work  was  adjusting  itself  without 
friction.  These  are  but  a  few  of  the  words  of  appreciation 
which  I  hear  from  day  to  day  concerning  the  work  of  the 


26  THE   STORT  OF   THE 

Sargent  Industrial  School.  And  when  one  considers  how 
much  the  happiness  of  newly  formed  homes  depends  upon 
the  wife's  ability  to  cook  and  sew,  etc.,  one  begins  to  realize 
how  much  the  Sargent  Industrial  School  means  to  the  city 
of  Beacon. 

Another  merchant  of  Beacon  writes  : 

I  firmly  believe  that  it  is  the  best  institution  for  young  girls 
that  has  ever  been  established  in  the  neighborhood  of  Fishkill. 
As  you  know,  the  writer  has  been  familiar  with  the  Sargent 
School  since  its  foundation,  when  it  was  called  uThe  Bee- 
hive." During  the  twenty-five  years  of  retail  business  expe- 
rience in  Fishkill,  the  writer  had  occasion  to  meet  the  young 
women  who  were  pupils  of  the  school,  also  their  mothers. 
Many  times  have  I  remembered  a  girl  as  she  first  entered  the 
school  and  noticed,  two  or  three  years  later,  the  marked  dif- 
ference for  the  better  in  these  young  women  in  the  way  of 
selecting  materials  and  styles  for  their  clothes.  The  manners 
of  most  of  the  young  people  who  were  associated  with  the 
faculty  and  environment  of  this  industrial  school  were  much 
improved  and  there  was  an  air  of  refinement  about  these 
girls  which  they  did  not  possess  when  they  first  entered  the 
school.  I  feel  that  Mrs.  Sargent  has  done  a  most  wonderful 
work  and  I  know  how  the  parents  of  the  girls  themselves  feel 
about  it. 

Still  another  business  man  says: 

In  the  activities  of  life  one  generation  frequently  forgets 
what  it  owes  to  those  who  have  gone  before,  and  we  must 
not  forget  the  benefits  conferred  upon  a  generation  of  young 
women  by  a  noble-hearted  woman's  work  of  practical  phi- 
lanthropy in  founding  and  sustaining  the  Sargent  Industrial 
School  in  the  city  of  Beacon,  N.  Y.  The  old  village  of  Mat- 
teawan  was  eminently  a  factory  village;  ia  1814  here  was 


The  Bird  Fountain 

Presented  to  Mrs.  Sargent  on  the  Twentieth 
Anniversary  of  the  Founding  of  the  School 


SARGENT  INDUSTRIAL    SCHOOL       27 

erected  one  of  the  earliest  cotton  mills  built  in  America,  and 
this  was  gradually  followed  by  other  industries  employing 
girls  and  women  by  scores  and  hundreds.  Unless  some  effort 
is  made  to  overcome  the  tendency,  a  factory  town  is  apt  to 
annul  the  development  of  the  better  social  environment,  and 
with  this  foresight  of  conditions,  Mrs.  Winthrop  Sargent 
several  years  ago  devoted  her  time  and  means  to  providing 
attractions  of  most  serviceable  character  for  the  young  wo- 
men of  the  community  in  industrial  and  home  artistic  work. 
And  there  is  no  doubt  but  scores  of  young  women  have  been 
greatly  benefited,  and  homes,  in  many  an  instance,  thereby 
made  the  better.  The  Sargent  Industrial  Institute  to-day  is 
one  of  the  social  centres  of  the  young  city,  taken  advantage 
of  by  girls  still  in  school  as  well  as  by  those  of  older  growth 
engaged  in  business  duties.  Year  after  year  .  .  .  Mrs.  Sargent 
has  followed  up  the  work,  providing  teachers  and  special  in- 
structors to  meet  any  and  all  lines  of  domestic  science.  Every 
year  in  June  graduating  and  exhibition  exercises  are  held  at 
which  Mrs.  Sargent  personally,  with  the  whole-souled  gra- 
ciousness  of  a  lady  to  the  manner  born,  gives  prizes  to  those 
most  proficient.  When  work  of  this  kind  is  done  it  is  a  life's 
work  well  spent  in  upbuilding  and  strengthening  the  better 
part  of  individual  ability,  which,  without  such  an  opportu- 
nity would  not  have  been  developed.  It  is  safe  to  say  that 
hundreds  of  families,  whose  members  have  been  benefited  by 
this  excellent,  kindly  provision  of  Mrs.  Sargent,  have  her  like- 
ness engraved  upon  their  hearts  in  grateful  remembrance 
of  her  disinterested  provision  for  the  welfare  of  the  young 
women  of  her  home  town  on  the  Hudson  River. 

Mr.  Everett  P.  Wheeler,  in  a  letter  to  the  Editor  of 
the  New  York  Evening  Post,  writes : 


28       SARGENT  INDUSTRIAL    SCHOOL 

The  Sargent  Industrial  School  at  Beacon,  N.  Y.,  has  just 
celebrated  its  twenty- fifth  anniversary.  It  was  founded,  and 
has  been  continued  under  the  direct  supervision  of  Mrs.  Win- 
throp  Sargent.  She  opened  the  school  in  1891  with  53  schol- 
ars. During  the  twenty-five  years,  9820  pupils  have  been  en- 
rolled. There  were  719  during  the  past  year.  They  have  been 
taught  sewing,  dressmaking,  embroidery,  cooking,  singing, 
the  care  of  little  children — in  a  word,  "  home-making."  To 
use  Mrs.  Sargent's  own  happy  phrase,  "  It  has  been  normal 
growth,  like  trees  and  plants,  and  simple  work  based  on  ideals, 
common-sense  and  discipline  and  persistent  endeavor  to  make 
a  sound  body,  a  trained  mind  and  hands  and  a  true  heart." 
It  was  a  beautiful  sight,  that  of  the  many  children  marching 
in  procession  with  flowers  and  garlands  of  maple  leaves,  sing- 
ing melodious  songs  and  showing  not  only  in  their  handi- 
work which  was  exhibited  in  the  gymnasium,  but  in  their 
appearance,  dress  and  manner,  the  results  of  the  intelligent 
and  sympathetic  training  of  the  school.  The  citizens  of  Bea- 
con showed  their  appreciation  of  Mrs.  Sargent's  leadership 
by  presenting  her  with  a  loving  cup.  The  teachers  and  pupils 
showed  theirs  by  presenting  a  silver  beehive,  which  is  the 
emblem  of  the  school.  It  has  been  said  that  the  young  people 
who  are  taught  at  Hampton  and  Tuskegee  have  greater 
advantages  in  their  training  than  the  pupils  of  most  of  our 
public  schools  in  the  North.  In  the  case  of  this  industrial 
school,  which  we  owe  to  a  large-hearted  Northern  woman, 
we  see  that  as  good  work  can  be  done  here  as  anywhere. 
Let  us  hope  that  the  example  will  be  followed  in  every  city 
in  America. 


DOMESTIC  SERVICE  COURSE 

THE  record  of  the  Sargent  Industrial  School 
would  not  be  complete  without  an  account  of 
the  sixteen  years'  experiment  in  the  training  for  do- 
mestic service. 

Mrs.  Sargent  had  for  many  years  felt  that  the 
problem  of  Domestic  Service  could  be  solved  only  by 
appropriate  training  of  both  mistress  and  servant. 
She  felt  that  an  experiment  might  reasonably  be 
made  in  connection  with  the  Sargent  School,  inas- 
much as  it  offered  all  the  conditions  of  the  private 
home  in  addition  to  the  opportunities  for  instruc- 
tion. She  therefore  announced  in  1894  a  School  of 
Domestic  Training  for  students,  to  accompany  the 
instruction  hitherto  described.  The  announcement 
reads  as  follows: 

DOMESTIC  TRAINING 
SARGENT   INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOL,  MATTEAWAN,  N.  Y. 

Programme  of  Work 

The  Course  of  Instruction  will  cover  a  period  of  not  less  than 
nine  months  and  will  consist  of  a  thorough  training  in  all  the 
departments  of  House  Service. 

Every  pupil  will  be  taught: 

the  care  of  a  range  or  stove ; 
the  care  of  sinks  and  drains ; 
the  care  of  a  kitchen,  ice  chest  and  cellar. 


30  THE   STORT  OF   THE 

She  will  be  taught: 

to  make  bread,  biscuits,  muffins  and  plain  cake; 

to  make  soup  stock ; 

to  roast,  boil  and  broil  meats; 

to  dress  poultry ; 

to  cook  eggs,  fish  and  oysters; 

to  cook  vegetables,  fresh  and  canned ; 

to  make  tea  and  coffee  and  plain  desserts. 

She  will  be  taught: 
to  wash  and  iron  ; 
to  care  for  bed  and  table  linen ; 
to  sweep  and  dust ; 
to  take  care  of  toilet  and  bath  rooms. 

She  will  be  taught: 

to  take  care  of  a  dining-room  and  its  furnishings ; 

to  take  care  of  silver,  glass  and  china ; 

to  set  a  table  correctly  and  to  wait  upon  the  table; 

to  take  care  of  the  parlors  and  halls ; 

to  take  care  of  hard  wood  and  painted  floors ; 

to  answer  the  door-bell  properly. 


Rules 

Careful  instruction  will  be  given  by  the  teachers  in  these 
branches  of  housework  and  certificates  will  be  awarded  to 
those  graduates  who  do  the  work  required  of  them  in  a  man- 
ner that  satisfies  both  the  Director  and  the  Teachers. 

No  Domestic  Pupil  will  be  received  under  fifteen  or  over 
twenty  years  of  age. 

Only  those  who  intend  to  adopt  Domestic  Service  as  a 
profession  will  be  received  at  the  School. 

References  as  to  character  and  general  intelligence  will  be 
required  and  also  a  signed  certificate  from  a  physician  stating 
that  the  applicant  is  in  good  health. 


SARGENT  INDUSTRIAL    SCHOOL       31 

Domestic  Pupils  will  receive  board,  clothing  and  tuition 
free  with  the  comforts  of  a  pleasant  country  home. 

In  exchange  for  these  advantages  they  will  be  required  to 
give  their  services  and  to  do  the  work  of  the  House  without 
receiving  wages. 

Travelling  expenses  will  be  paid  when  necessary,  but  if 
a  pupil  returns  home  for  any  reason  during  the  School  Year 
it  must  be  at  the  expense  of  herself  or  her  friends. 

No  applicant  will  be  enrolled  as  a  regular  pupil  until  she 
has  satisfactorily  served  a  probation  of  one  month. 

Concerning  the  Domestic  Service  Course,  Mrs.  Sar- 
gent writes : 

Six  girls  received  instruction  at  one  time  under 
two  resident  teachers  and  a  matron  who  had  per- 
sonal supervision  over  the  girls.  The  work  was  di- 
vided into  four  divisions,  namely:  kitchen,  laundry, 
dining-room  and  bedrooms — two  in  the  kitchen  (a 
cook  and  a  helper),  two  in  the  laundry,  one  wait- 
ress, and  one  house-maid.  The  girls  were  changed 
from  one  division  to  the  other  once  a  month;  the 
day  was  divided  into  periods  for  housework,  sew- 
ing, recreation  and  exercise.  Each  girl  was  assigned 
to  a  place  in  the  Industrial  Classes  of  the  school. 
Report  cards  with  marks  based  upon  the  following 
points:  Christian  duties,  obedience,  thoroughness, 
economy,  promptness  and  carefulness,  were  made 
up  once  a  week.  The  girls  were  required  to  have 
a  uniform  as  follows :  Two  uniforms  of  blue  and 


32  THE   STORT  OF   THE 

white  striped  gingham  for  mornings  with  dark  ging- 
ham aprons,  two  uniforms  of  light  blue  chambray 
for  afternoons  with  white  aprons  and  waitresses' 
collars  and  cuffs. 

The  pupils  who  were  received  the  first  nine  years 
were  largely  from  Orphan  Homes.  In  a  number  of 
cases  the  girls,  whose  standing  was  considered  ex- 
cellent, were  dismissed  later  by  their  employers.  As 
soon  as  the  restraint  and  routine  were  taken  away 
as  a  controlling  factor,  and  they  were  given  indi- 
vidual initiative  and  an  opportunity  to  choose  for 
themselves,  they  became  lax  in  their  work  and  un- 
manageable. As  a  consequence  of  these  conditions  an 
effort  was  made  to  secure  girls  from  village  homes 
and  farmers'  daughters  and  foreigners  who  had 
recently  come  to  America. 

Beginning  the  year  1904,  the  above  change  was 
made,  also  the  following  change  in  the  system  of 
training.  An  effort  was  employed  to  overcome  the 
failures  brought  to  the  attention  by  the  criticisms 
of  the  ladies  who  employed  the  girls.  The  outline  of 
the  new  method  was  this  :  the  girls  were  not  given 
a  uniform  until  they  had  satisfactorily  served  a 
month's  probation.  If  accepted  at  the  expiration  of 
that  time,  they  were  paid  $4.00  per  month,  and  were 
required  to  wear  the  school  uniform  which  they  paid 
for  themselves.  Extra  money  was  sometimes  given 


SARGENT  INDUSTRIAL    SCHOOL       33 

as  areward  for  improvement  or  good  work,  but  on  die 
other  hand  they  had  to  forfeit  money  for  demerits. 
Report  cards  were  abandoned  and  everything  done 
to  make  the  training  as  near  like  the  life  of  service  as 
possible.  Instruction  was  systematically  given  to  each 
girl  in  the  work  to  which  she  was  assigned  at  the 
time,  cooking,  laundry,  waiting,  or  chamber- work. 
This  method  brought  out  the  personality  of  the  girl. 
If  she  could  carry  responsibility,  if  she  were  efficient, 
if  she  could  be  depended  upon,  it  was  soon  known. 
Then  she  was  allowed  to  specialize  in  the  work  for 
which  she  was  best  suited. 

A  graduate  was  retained  with  wages;  her  work  was 
to  fill  in  wherever  a  trained  girl  was  needed :  as  cook 
until  another  was  capable,  as  laundress,  as  house- 
maid, etc.  In  this  way  the  management  of  the  house 
was  kept  up  to  a  greater  standard  of  efficiency.  This 
graduate  wore  a  black  uniform  and  on  some  occa- 
sions she  wore  a  white  one.  Their  pride  in  the  uni- 
forms was  stimulated  by  the  contrasts  —  the  pro- 
bationer in  a  hit-or-miss  sort  of  dress,  the  accepted 
pupil  in  a  trim  uniform  of  blue,  while  the  graduate 
wore  black  or  white.  Also  the  privilege  of  spend- 
ing their  allowance  ($4.00)  was  an  incentive  and 
inspiration  that  was  helpful.  At  the  end  of  the  year 
a  testimonial  was  given,  and  after  a  year  in  service, 
if  good  reports  were  received  from  the  employer, 


34  THE   STORY  OF   THE 

a  certificate  was  presented.  This,  too,  was  found  to 
be  a  point  gained. 

Nevertheless,  after  sixteen  years  under  different 
conditions  and  different  instructors,  this  department 
was  closed  largely  from  lack  of  girls  of  the  ability 
and  character  who  cared  to  take  the  year's  train- 
ing. The  type  of  girl  who  would  make  a  good  ser- 
vant could  always  find  employment  and  good  wages 
without  training.  A  letter  from  a  friend  says : 

I  am  seeking  a  nice  girl,  and  in  this  large  city  [Boston] 
one  would  expect  many  to  present  themselves,  but  they  do 
not  want  to  be  trained  for  the  reason  that  they  can  find  situ- 
ations whenever  they  want  to  do  housework. 

Apropos  of  the  right  material  and  the  failure  of  people 
to  tell  the  truth  through  lack  of  insight  into  char- 
acter: the  young  girl  in  question  was  sent  to  us 
with  the  best  of  references,  but  she  proved  most 
untrustworthy  and  irresponsible.  When  the  report 
was  sent  back  to  the  person  who  had  sent  her  to  us, 
this  letter  was  received  from  the  person  in  charge 
of  a  "New  York  Home,  Shelter  for  Respectable 
Girls:" 

You  spoke  of  dishonesty.  Will  you  please  make  that  charge 
to and  give  her  a  chance  to  disprove  it  ?  Her  charac- 
ter, as  far  as  I  know,  was  well  spoken  of  before  she  went  to 
Matteawan.  I  feel  the  truth  of  the  charge  you  make  should 
be  established  or  withdrawn.  I  certainly  cannot  recommend 
her  anywhere  until  the  matter  is  settled. 


SARGENT  INDUSTRIAL    SCHOOL       35 

The  foregoing  shows  that  the  writer  still  believes  in 
the  girl  and  questions  the  discipline  of  the  school. 
Because  of  these  conditions  we  could  do  nothing 
for  the  girl  and  were  obliged  to  let  her  go.  In  strik- 
ing contrast  a  girl  was  sent  here  by  the  matron  of 
a  hospital,  and  she  frankly  says  that  she  hesitates  to 
ask  us  to  take  the  candidate  because  of  her  under- 
standing that  we  expect  to  teach  the  girl  housework, 
sewing,  etc.,  and  not  the  " self-restraint  and  ear- 
nestness required  in  the  work."  She  goes  on  to  say: 
She  is  poorly  balanced  and  very  selfish,  but  it  seems  a  pity 
for  her  to  learn  no  more.  She  is  only  eighteen  and  bright 
in  many  ways,  but  she  will  sink  into  the  ranks  of  the  incapa- 
bles  without  training.  I  cannot  recommend  her  as  first-class 
material,  but  she  might  learn. 

At  this  lady 's  request  the  girl  was  given  a  trial.  After 
six  days  she  was  dismissed.  A  letter  brought  the 
following  criticism: 

She  is  a  very  strange  combination  of  brightness  and  stu- 
pidity. I  hate  to  give  her  up  and  say  she  may  become  a  crim- 
inal for  all  I  care,  but  it  looks  as  if  it  is  all  there  is  to  do.  I 
thank  you  very  much  for  the  trial.  It  seems  to  me  as  if  there 
ought  to  be  girls  glad  of  such  a  chance. 

The  following  is  a  letter  of  application : 

I  write  to  make  some  inquiries  about  the  work  of  your 
school,  what  the  terms  are,  and  what  the  age  of  the  pupils. 
There  is  a  young  girl,  about  fourteen  years  old,  the  daughter 
of  the  janitress  of  our  building,  who  is  much  in  need  of  such 
education,  influence,  and  wholesome  surroundings  as  will 


36  THE   STORY  OF   THE 

awaken  her  interest,  and  direct  her  energies,  and  properly  dis- 
cipline her.  Her  mother  feels  the  need  of  such  things  for  the 
child,  who  she  says  is  now  simply  wasting  her  time  over  her 
school-books  and  making  no  progress,  as  she  will  sit  by  the 
hour  studying  and  then  not  know  her  lessons,  but  remains 
several  grades  behind  her  brother  who  is  two  years  younger. 
The  mother  feels  that  boarding-school  life  might  be  just  the 
thing  for  the  child,  if  she  had  industrial  training,  with  just  a 
little  school  work,  and  I  think  she  is  right;  especially  would 
it  be  good  if  the  school  were  in  the  country,  for  the  child  is 
far  from  strong.  Also  the  child  needs  a  stimulating  example. 

Of  course,  there  were  other  applicants  who  presented 
more  encouraging  phases.  To  quote  another  letter 
from  a  woman  making  application : 

This  girl  is  fifteen  years  old  but  she  looks  like  eighteen.  Her 
parents  are  in  reduced  circumstances  and  to  a  large  extent 
dependent  upon  their  children  for  support.  Before  going  to 

you had  a  position  where  she  was  earning  $14.OO  per 

month,  but  when  her  parents  heard  of  the  benefit  a  friend  of 
ours  had  derived  from  your  training,  they  decided  to  do  with- 
out her  help  for  a  while  and  give  her  a  chance  of  earning 
a  certificate  which  they  rightly  judged  would  admit  her  to  a 
higher  position  in  the  future. 

The  girls  who  were  willing  to  take  the  training  were 
very  young  and  really  not  capable  of  the  responsi- 
bility that  the  duties  entailed.  A  letter  received  from 
one  woman  says: 

" is  an  extremely  nice  little  girl  and  has  been  oblig- 
ing in  every  way — but  she  is  too  young  and  I  have  told 
her  so. 


SARGENT  INDUSTRIAL    SCHOOL       37 

To  show  that  employers  make  a  great  many  de- 
mands but  are  not  willing  to  pay  accordingly,  the 
following  is  quoted : 

I  have  submitted  the  matter  to  my  mother  and  she  is  of 
the  opinion  that  while  the  work  required  is  such  as  would  be 
required  in  a  household  of  four  plain  people,  and  far  from 
being  laborious  and  of  a  wearing  character,  it  would  help 
some  girls  to  improve  conditions  in  life.  At  the  same  time 
she  is  reluctant  to  urge  a  girl  to  come  lest  she  be  disappointed. 
Furthermore,  my  mother  does  not  consider  the  work  involved 
worth  twelve  dollars  a  month. 

Also: 

I  understand  it  is  your  practice  to  place  at  small  wages 
with  respectable  families  young  girls  who  have  been  given 
some  training  in  light  housework.  Would  you  kindly  send 
me  some  details  of  your  plan  ?  I  would  like  to  get  such  a  girl 
to  come  to  live  with  me.  I  would  give  her  a  pleasant  home 
and  treat  her  well  in  every  way.  My  family  is  small,  con- 
sisting of  myself  and  husband  and  two-year-old  child.  I  can 
give  you  the  best  of  references  as  to  my  character,  etc.  Kindly 
let  me  know  what  one  is  expected  to  pay  for  a  girl,  and  how 
to  proceed  toward  getting  one  from  your  institution. 

Another  letter  says : 

I  understand  that  it  is  possible  to  secure  good  competent 
house-workers  who  are  graduates  of  your  institution.  I  am 
in  need  of  a  servant  for  general  housework  in  an  apartment 
of  eight  rooms.  My  family  consists  of  my  husband,  myself 
and  a  three-year-old  child.  We  have  a  nurse  for  the  little  girl. 

Another  obstacle  hard  to  overcome  was  the  diffi- 
culty to  train  for  other  persons.  For  instance,  any 


38  THE   STORT  OF   THE 

other  work  that  has  to  do  with  the  up-keep  of  the 
house  is  handed  over  to  the  plumber,  carpenter,  or 
painter,  perhaps,  whose  method  is  never  questioned, 
but  the  work  of  the  domestic  depends  upon  the  per- 
sonality of  the  mistress.  Every  mistress  has  her  own 
idea  of  the  management  of  the  household.  That 
homes  may  have  individual  charm,  this  must  always 
be  essentially  true.  For  that  reason  alone,  the  domes- 
tic problem  is  a  hard  one. 

has  been  in  my  employ  most  of  a  year.  When  she 

first  came,  I  found  her  deficient  in  many  things  a  cook  should 
know  and  requiring  frequent  telling  as  to  the  way  of  doing 
things.  She  has  improved,  she  makes  very  good  bread,  cooks 
meat  and  fish  well  and  is  always  obliging  and  tries  to  do  her 
best.  I  find  her  judgment  often  at  fault  but  experience  will 
teach  her  as  she  gets  older  and  more  used  to  the  work  so  that 
in  time  she  may  make  a  good  cook. 

The  girl  of  whom  the  woman  wTites  was  one  of  the 
most  satisfactory  girls  ever  trained  at  the  school ;  her 
standing  was  excellent. 

A  few  words  of  appreciation  from  some  of  the  girls 
and  their  employers  follow .  A  sister  writes : 

I  know  she  is  in  good  hands  with  you  and  has  a  good 
home.  I  know  I  shall  not  forget  what  you  have  done  for  me. 

A  mother  writes: 

I  know  how  enthusiastic  Bernice  is  about  the  school  and 
feel  that  any  girl  going  into  your  care  will  receive  all  the 
training  that  she  is  capable  of  assimilating. 


SARGENT  INDUSTRIAL    SCHOOL       39 

Mrs.  Sargent  adds  these  statistics: 

Domestic  Pupils 

from  Institutions  21 

from  their  own  homes  34 

Immigrants  4 

Total  59 

Domestic  Pupils 

from  the  Neighborhood  7 

(Out  of  59  pupils  the  standing  of  28  was  considered  most 
satisfactory.) 

History  at  Present  Date: 

In  service  16 

Married  21 

Dismissed,  incapable  or  unsuited  to  training,  physically 

or  mentally  weak  15 

Whereabouts  unknown  5 

Died  __2 

Total  59 

Placed  in  service 

as  waitresses  16 

general  helpers  15 

cooks  7 

nursery  maids  4 

chamber-maid  1 

Returned  after  graduation  to  relatives  1 

Left  or  were  dismissed  15 

Total  ^9 

Maximum  wages  (received  by  nursery  maid)  $25  per 

month 
Minimum  wages  (received  by  general  helper)   $8  per 

month 


40  THE   STORT  OF   THE 

This  frank  account  throws  a  clear  light  upon  the 
problems  of  domestic  service  to-day.  Is  it  not  time  to 
establish  another  school  of  housekeeping?  Has  not 
the  experiment  of  the  sixteen  years  proved  as  ser- 
viceable as  the  continuous  work  which  maintains  in- 
struction for  independent  homes  ?  Are  there  no  means 
by  which  both  employer  and  employed  may  meet  on 
common  ground  and  come  to  understand  reasonable 
and  feasible  conditions  for  domestic  service? 

The  foregoing  record  of  the  Sargent  School  clearly 
points  to  the  great  value  of  the  personal  contribution, 
carefully  studied  and  patiently  continued.  Mrs.  Sar- 
gent has  been  able  to  teach  the  children  of  Beacon 
many  a  lesson  which  the  schools  could  not  provide, 
and  which  the  homes  evidently  desired.  It  seems 
clear  that  the  intervention  of  a  devoted  and  helpful 
personality  is  necessary  for  this  mission,  and  that 
the  institution  alone  does  not  suffice.  If  the  home  as 
a  centre  is  to  be  the  laboratory  in  which  the  children 
become  familiar  with  the  finer  ideals  of  home-mak- 
ing, we  must  for  all  time  depend  in  large  measure 
upon  gifts  like  that  of  Mrs.  Sargent. 

Her  own  contribution  has  been  of  worth,  not  only 
because  of  the  necessary  financial  gift  involved,  but 
chiefly  because  of  the  personal  thought,  attention,  and 
sacrifice.  Mrs.  Sargent  says  that  it  is  her  firm  belief 


SARGENT  INDUSTRIAL    SCHOOL       41 

that  work  of  this  kind  can  be  done  only  as  women 
who  have  a  desire  to  serve  in  this  way  give  their  own 
time  and  their  own  service  in  the  place  where  their 
lot  is  fixed.  She  believes  that  every  community  has 
its  own  needs,  which  can  best  be  met  by  residents  who 
are  in  sympathy  with  it  and  who  understand  its 
interests.  Cooperation  and  consequent  growth  can 
be  won  only  through  personal  and  devoted  service.  If 
Mrs.  Sargent's  ideal  were  expressed  in  a  similar  way 
in  every  community,  we  should  have  come  near  solv- 
ing the  problem  of  vocational  training  for  girls. 


MISS  PEARSON 

PRINCIPAL  INSTRUCTOR,  1892-1917 

THE  Sargent  School  has  been  most  fortunate 
in  one  abiding  and  controlling  influence,  the 
presence  of  Miss  Jessie  Pearson,  who  has  been  as- 
sociated with  the  school  for  more  than  twenty-four 
years.  Miss  Pearson  entered  the  Sargent  School  in 
September,  1892.  Her  twenty-fifth  year  will  be  com- 
pleted on  September  12,  1917.  For  the  past  twelve 
years  she  has  been  the  principal  of  the  school. 

In  October,  1912,  a  jubilee  was  held  in  the  Sar- 
gent gymnasium  to  celebrate  the  completion  of  Miss 
Pearson's  twentieth  year  in  the  school.  Miss  Pear- 
son was  the  centre  of  the  occasion.  The  gymnasium 
was  decorated  with  flowers.  Miss  Laura  Roosa  com- 
posed and  read  a  poetical  account  of  the  progress  of 
the  school  during  these  years.  As  the  poem  was  re- 
cited, the  various  plans  of  the  school  and  the  attain- 
ments of  the  students,  the  change  from  the  prize 
to  the  badge  and  the  distinction  of  the  Honorable 
Mention  were  noted.  Miss  Pearson  was  then  asked 
to  come  forward  to  receive  from  the  hands  of  Mrs. 
Sargent  the  coveted  prize  of  Honorable  Mention — 
bestowed  upon  one  who  has  not  been  absent  during 
twenty  school  years  and  whose  average  is  one  hun- 
dred per  cent. ' '  The  graduates  and  undergraduates 


Miss  Jessie  Elizabeth  Pearson 


SARGENT  INDUSTRIAL    SCHOOL       43 

presented  Miss  Pearson  with  a  coffee  and  tea  silver 
service  as  a  reminder  of  their  ' '  grateful  appreciation 
and  admiration. ' '  On  every  side  was  evidence  of  her 
devoted  and  continued  service.  The  founder  of  the 
school  in  most  fitting-  words  recounted  the  various 
gifts  which  Miss  Pearson  had  bestowed  upon  the 
school,  in  token  of  which  she  bestowed  a  "glow- 
ing topaz, — a  beehive  cut  in  intaglio, — emblem  of 
the  home  of  many  busy  bees,  about  which  flit  the 
bees  going  forth  to  gather  honey  from  the  opening 
flowers  and  returning  to  the  hive  with  their  burden 
of  sweetness." 

The  "spirit  of  the  hive"  has  assuredly  been 
maintained  by  Miss  Pearson,  who  has  steadily  in- 
terpreted in  the  school  the  thought  of  the  founder. 
Through  her  own  insight,  sympathy,  and  broad 
human  experience,  she  has  directed  in  both  prin- 
ciple and  detail  the  progress  of  the  school,  keep- 
ing close  to  all  the  interests  of  the  community,  and 
knowing  intimately  both  the  desires  and  the  needs 
of  the  students  and  the  alumnae.  The  school  has 
never  been  formal  and  arbitrary,  nor  has  the  letter 
of  the  law  ever  triumphed  over  the  spirit.  In  Miss 
Pearson  the  director  and  founder  has  had  an  able 
coadjutor,  and  to  her  cooperation  the  success  of  the 
school  will  in  a  large  degree  be  attributed. 


SONG  FOR   THE 
SARGENT  INDUSTRIAL    SCHOOL 


SONG 

FOR  THE  SdRGEJVT  INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOL 


Allegretto. 


ET.TSE  FELLOWS  WHITE 


b  -  &- 


The  0  -    ri  -  die  sings     as    she 

Thanks  to    the  giv  -    er     of 


A  a  ,                         . 

fr    J    •"  J   J  J)  ' 

builds     her    nest        In    the 

crest      of    the   flower  -  ing 

*««>,                             T> 

e 

all       good  gifts      For  this 

hope      of   the    com  -     ing 

yparp,  ,    _               Ai 

id 

lh  e    8  f   4=i 

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f^-£  —  P  r    P  — 

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l/g'tl  r1   B  *     h    N    K 

fl»  '  P    P  P    J    J'  J>  ' 

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thanks         to    her           whose 

f  r  p  J  ^3 

end  -  less  quest  In 
hand  up  -  lifts  Whose 

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search  of    the   deep  -    er 
wis    -        dom  guides    and 

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sea  The  r      Bees 

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hum    low  as  they  gath     -        er     sweet        From  the 

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Copyright,  1915,  by  the  Sargent  Industrial  School 


y  pi  —  rt  9  

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ul  -  ly   keep      each 

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fly  -    ing  feet       Of         girl    -      hood's  hap  -  pi  -  est        hours, 
life       to  thee      The         Sargent       In  -  dus  - tri  -  al         School. 


Chorus. 


Work    and  sing,  work    and  sing  Hear  the    joy  -  ful     cho  -    rus  sing   -  ing 


fefc 


Glad  and  gay  all       the     day        Health    and  hap- pi-ness  bring 


colla    voce 


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Chorus,  for  2nd  Verse. 


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APPENDIX 


APPENDIX 

THE  lists  and  tables  which  are  appended  are  in  part  for 
the  students  of  the  school,  both  past  and  present,  who 
will  wish  to  keep  these  definite  records  of  the  Sargent  School. 
They  are  also  intended  for  the  use  of  those  readers  who  will 
study  the  plan  and  the  natural  extension  of  this  school,  con- 
sidering its  experiences  as  typical  and  therefore  likely  to  fore- 
cast the  progress  of  similar  experiments  that  others  may  wish 
to  make. 


Total  Enrollment 

189 1- June- September  53        1903-1904  295 

1891-1892         76         1904-1905  457 

1892-1893         100         1905-1906  566 

1893-1894         181         1906-1907  563 

1894-1895        218         1907-1908  510 

1895-1896        233         1908-1909  533 

1896-1897    .     257         1909-1910  562 

1897-1898         188         1910-1911  590 

1898-1899        220         1911-1912  613 

1899-1900        220         1912-1913  584 

1900-1901         212         1913-1914  687 

1901-1902        221         1914-1915  714 

1902-1903        248         1915-1916  719 

Total  9820 

1894-1915 

Total  number  of  graduates  68 1 

1891-1906 
(15  years)  40%  of  graduates  Married 

1906-1911 
(5  years)  20%  of  graduates  Married 


APPENDIX 


Graduates  have  gone  into  eleven  states : 
California  New  Jersey 

Connecticut  New  York 

Massachusetts  Oregon 

Missouri  Pennsylvania 

and  also  to  Ontario,  Canada,  and  China. 


Rhode  Island 

Tennessee 

Virginia 


In  the  second  ten  years  of  the  school  25%  more  of  the  pupils 
sought  higher  education  than  in  the  first  ten  years  of  the  school ; 
28  girls  have  entered  college  and  normal  school,  10  girls  have 
trained  for  nurses  since  the  establishment  of  the  school. 


Certificates  given,  1894-1915: 
Cookery 
Laundry 
Sewing 
Dressmaking 
Physical  Training 
Housekeeping 


II 


486 
73 

271 

93 

24 

27 

Total     974 


Various  Statistics 

Seven  Departments,  year  ending  June,  1914. 
Nine  Departments,  year  ending  June,  1915. 
Two  new  Departments,  Drawing  and  Dancing,  added 
1914-1915. 

1915-1916 

CLASSES 

Cookery,  6  classes  83 

Sewing,  12  classes  282 

Laundry,  2  classes  16 

Dressmaking,  10  classes  68 

Physical  Training,  2  classes  99 

Basket  Ball,  1  class  19 

Embroidery,  1  class  10 

Singing,  1  class  37 

Housekeeping,  1  class  14 


APPENDIX  57 

CLASSES 

Drawing  and  Painting,  1  class  1 8 

Dancing,  2  classes  73 

Total     r\9 
OCCUPATIONS 

Cookery 
Home 

Teachers  1 0 

Factory  27 

Clerk  2 

School  42  83 

Sewing 

School  259 

Factory  23          282 

Laundry 

School  7 

Factory  9  1 6 

Dressmaking 

School  4 

Factory  28 

Home  30 

Teachers  6  68 

Physical  Training 

School  72 

Clerk  1 

Teachers  4 

Factory  20 

Dressmaker  1 

Home  __1           99 

Basket  Ball 

School  19 

Embroidery 

Home  3 

Teachers  2 

School  1 

Clerk  ,  1 

Factory  3  10 


58 


APPENDIX 


OCCUPATIONS 
Singing 
School 

Housekeeping 
School 
Saleswoman 
Teachers 
Operators 
Factory 
Home 
Stenographer 

Drawing  and  Painting 
School 

Dancing 
Clerk 
School 
Home 
Factory 


RESIDENCE  OF  PUPILS 
(Matteawan,  327;  Fishkill  Landing,  324) 
Total  in  New  City  of  Beacon 
Glenham 
Tioronda 
Fishkill  Village 
Groville 
Wicopee 
Newburgh 

NATIONALITIES 
American  born 
Irish 
Slavic 
Jewish 
Italian 
French 


37 


2 
32 

4 
35 

Total 


Total 


14 
18 


73 
7T9 


651 

40 

14 

3 

3 

1 

7 

719 

378 

224 

33 

2 

19 
6 


APPENDIX  59 

NATIONALITIES 

German  3 1 

Hungarian  1 1 

Polish  8 

Scotch  5 

English  1 

Swiss  1 

Total     7T9 

RELIGION 

Protestants  374 

Roman  Catholics  341 

Jewish  4 

Total     ~T19 

Programme  of  Classes  for  the  Year 
at  the  Sargent  Industrial  School 

1915-1916 
MONDAY 

10.0O-12.0O  a.m.  Dressmaking  (Special)  Miss  Straney 
1.3O-  3.30  p.m.  Dressmaking  (Special)  Miss  Straney 
4.OO-  6.0O  p.m.  Cooking  Miss  Sutherland 

4.OO-  6.OO  p.m.  Sewing  (5th  year)   Miss  Alice  Taylor 
7.3O-  9.30  p.m.  Dressmaking  Miss  Alice  Taylor 

7.3O—  9.3O  p.m.  Sewing  prepara- 
tory to  Dressmaking        Miss  Agnes  Taylor 
7.3O-   9.3O  p.m.  Cooking  Miss  Sutherland 

TUESDAY 

4.00-  6.00  p.m.  Sewing  (4>th  year)  Miss  Alice  Taylor 

4.00—  6.OO  p.m.  Sewing  (4th  year)  Miss  Agnes  Taylor 

4.00-  6.00  p.m.  Cooking  Miss  Sutherland 

7.30-  9.30  p.m.  Dressmaking  Miss  Alice  Taylor 

7.3O-  9.30  p.m.  Cooking  Miss  Sutherland 

7.3O-   9.30  p.m.  Housekeeping  Miss  Pearson 


60 


\PPENDIX 


WEDNESDAY 
10:00-12.00  a.m. 
4.0O-  6.00p.m. 
4.OO-  6.OO  p.m. 
7.3O-  9.3Op.m. 
7.3O-  9.30p.m. 
7.30-  9.30p.m. 

THURSDAY 

4.OO-  6.0O  p.m. 
4.OO-  6.0Op.m. 
4.0O-  6.OOp.m. 
7.3O-  9.30p.m. 
tory 
7.30-  9.30p.m. 

FRIDAY 

10.OO-12.0O  a.m. 
1.30-  3.30  p.m. 
4.0O-  6.OOp.m. 
4.0O-  6.OOp.m. 
7.3O-  9.30p.m. 

SATURDAY 

9.0O-10.3O  a.m. 
10.3O-12.0O  a.m. 


Embroidery 

Sewing 

Cooking 

Dressmaking 

Embroidery 

Cooking 

Laundry 

Sewing  (3d  year) 
Sewing  (3d  year) 
Sewing  prepara- 
to  Dressmaking 
Laundry 


Miss  Pearson 

Miss  Alice  Taylor 

Miss  Sutherland 

Miss  Alice  Taylor 

Miss  Pearson 

Miss  Sutherland 

Miss  Sutherland 
Miss  Alice  Taylor 
Miss  Agnes  Taylor 

Miss  Alice  Taylor 
Miss  Sutherland 


Dressmaking  (Special)  Miss  Straney 
Dressmaking  (Special)  Miss  Straney 
Dressmaking  ( Teachers}  Miss  Straney 
Sewing  (3d  year)  Miss  Alice  Taylor 
Dressmaking  (Special)  Miss  Straney 

Sewing  (2  classes)  Miss  Alice  Taylor 
Sewing  (2  classes)  Miss  Agnes  Taylor 


Programme  of  Classes  for  the  Year 
at  the  Sargent  Gymnasium 

1915-1916 
MONDAY 

4.00-  6.00  p.m.  Singing  Class  Miss  Straney 

7.3O-  9.3O  p.m.  Basket  Ball  Practice 


APPENDIX  61 

TUESDAY 

4.0O-  6.0O  p.m.  Dancing  Class  (chil- 
dren) Miss  Cantwell 
7.30-   9.30  p.m.  Dancing  Class  (1st  year)  Miss  Cantwell 

WEDNESDAY 

4.0O-  6.OO  p.m.  Coaching  in  Basket  Ball  Mrs.  Salman 

THURSDAY 

4.0O-  5.0O  p.m.  Physical  Training  (chil- 
dren) Mrs.  Salman 
5.0O-  6.00  p.m.  Coaching  in  Basket  Ball  Mrs.  Salman 
7.30-   9.30  p.m.  Physical  Training  (adults)  Mrs.  Salman 

FRIDAY  AND  SATURDAY  EVENINGS 
Dances  and  Basket  Ball  Games 

{Miss  Caroline  Hunter 
Miss  Eliza  Scofield 
Miss  Cecelia  St.  John 
SATURDAY 

9.OO-12.OO  a.m.  Drawing  Miss  Jane  Judson 

Entertain  ments 
1915-1916 

OCTOBER  30.  Hallowe'en  Party. 

Informal  reception,  three  hundred  in  costume.  Prizes  offered 
for  prettiest,  most  original,  and  most  amusing  costumes.  Com- 
mittee of  judges  selected  from  visitors.  Dancing  and  games. 

NOVEMBER  3.  Annual  Meeting  of  Alumnae  Association. 
Mrs.  Sargent  presided,  election  of  officers.  Inauguration  of 
Red  Cross  Branch  under  Dutchess  County,  N.  Y. 

NOVEMBER  5.  Formal  Opening. 

Address  by  Mrs.  Sargent.  Programme,  recitations,  music, 
etc. 


62  APPENDIX 

NOVEMBER  22.  Basket  Ball  Game. 

Thursday  Evening  Class  vs.  Wednesday  afternoon  Basket  Ball 
Team. 

DECEMBER  3,  4.  Exchange  Sale. 
Conducted  by  Alumnae  Association. 

DECEMBER  6.  Basket  Ball  Game. 
Class  games. 

JANUARY  18.  Children's  Party. 
Afternoon  Dancing  Class. 

FEBRUARY  4.  Basket  Ball  Game. 

FEBRUARY  12.  Reception  and  Dance. 

Evening  Dancing  Class  under  the  direction  of  Miss  Alice  M. 
Cantwell. 

MARCH  4.  Children's  Party. 
Afternoon  Dancing  Class. 

MARCH  6.  Concert. 

By  the  Singing  Class  under  the  direction  of  Miss  Sallie  E. 
Straney.  Song  groups.  English,  Irish,  Scotch,  and  American 
songs  enacted  by  different  members  of  the  class.  Appropriate 
costumes. 

MARCH  7.  Reception  and  Dance. 
Evening  Dancing  Class. 

APRIL  11.  Children's  Party. 
Afternoon  Dancing  Class. 

MAY  6.  Reception  and  Dance. 
Evening  Dancing  Class. 

MAY  16.  16th  Annual  Physical  Training  Exhibition. 
Marches,  drills,  folk  dances  in  costume,  and  apparatus  work. 

MAY  19.  Entertainment  by  Singing  Class. 

Songs  illustrated  by  children  in  costume  arranged  in  large 
frames  to  represent  pictures. 


APPENDIX  63 

MAY  20.  Reception  and  Dance. 
Evening  Dancing  Class. 

JUNE  6.  Founder's  Day. 

Twenty-fifth  Celebration  of  the  founding  of  the  School.  Gar- 
den Party.  Exhibition  of  work  in  the  gymnasium. 

JUNE  8.  Prize  Day. 

Distribution  of  prizes. 

Principals  and  Teachers 

Miss  McNEAR,  June-September,  1891.  First  summer. 
Miss  LITTLE,  September,  1891- July,  1894.  Three  years. 
Miss  Cox,  1894-1897.  Three  years. 
Miss  STANLEY,  1897-1904.  Seven  years. 
Miss  PEARSON,  September  12,  1904-1916. 

Teachers 

BARLOW,  Miss  EFFIE  J. 

Dressmaking,   1906-1912;  Dressmaking,  Special,    1907- 
1912. 

BRETT,  Miss  EMMA  J. 

Singing,  1908-1910. 
CANTWELL,  Miss  ALICE  M. 

Dancing,  1911-1916. 
DIETRICH,  Mrs.  LOUISE  C. 

Singing,  1910-1911. 
HOWARD,  Miss  KATHERINE. 

Cooking,  January,  1911  -June,  1911. 
JUDSON,  Miss  JANE  E. 

Drawing  and  Painting,  1911-1916. 
SALMAN,  Mrs.  GERTRUDE  S. 

Physical  Training,  1901-1916. 


64  APPENDIX 

SODERBURY,   Mrs.  SADIE  H. 

Special  Dressmaking,  1904-1907. 
SUTHERLAND,  Miss  HELEN  C. 

Cooking,    September,    1904- January,    1911;    November, 
1915-1916. 

STRANEY,  Miss  SALLIE  E. 

Singing,  February,  1913-1916. 
STRANEY,  Miss  SALLIE  E. 

Dressmaking,  Special,  1912-1916. 

TABOR,  Mrs.  H.  M. 

Dancing,  1905-1907. 
TAYLOR,  Miss  ALICE  A. 

Sewing  Department,  1904-1916. 
TAYLOR,  Miss  ALICE  A. 

Sewing  and  Dressmaking  jointly,  1912-1916. 
TOLMIE,  Miss  MARTHA. 

Singing,  October,  1911  -February,  1913. 
WHITEHOUSE,  Miss  FLORENCE  E. 

Cooking,  September,  1911  -June,  1915. 
WILLIAMS,  Professor  GORDON. 

Singing,  January,  1907-June,  1908. 
ROOSA,  Miss  LAURA. 

Literary  Class,  1 907- 1911. 

Assistant  Teachers 

BLACKBURN,  Miss  MAY  L.  (Mrs.  Robert  Marshall) . 

Sewing,  September,  1899-February,  1900. 
CONKLIN,  Miss  GRACE. 

Sewing,  1900-1907. 
KLANKA,  Miss  NELLIE  L. 

Sewing, 1894-1897. 


APPENDIX  65 

MCDONALD,  Miss  AGNES  G.1 

Sewing, 1906-1907. 
REILLY,  Miss  MARY  P. 

Sewing, 1904-1906. 

STUDLEY,  Miss  EMMA  (graduate  Sewing),2  1904-1906. 
SYPHER,  Miss  VIOLA  (graduate  Sewing),2  19O4-19O6. 
TAYLOR,  Miss  AGNES  L. 

Sewing,  December,  1906-1916. 

TAYLOR,  Miss  ALICE  A. 

Sewing,  December,  1 907-19 1 6;  Sewing  Department,  1 904  ; 
Dressmaking,  1912. 

TAYLOR,  Miss  ALICE  A. 

Received    certificate    Sewing,    1891-1893;    Dressmaking, 
1893-1895. 

TILLMAN,  Miss  ETTA  (Mrs.  William  A.  P.  Schorman). 
Sewing, 1896-1900. 


1  Died  1914. 
Offered  services  Thursday  Afternoon  Class. 


ALUMNAE  REPORT,  190O-1916 
MISS  LAMONT'S  REPORT,  1900-1905 

1900 
A    MEETING  was  held  March  17,  19OO,  for  the  pur- 


pose  of  forming  an  Alumnae  Association,  there  being 
forty-seven  graduates  present.  Miss  Emily  Stanley,  princi- 
pal of  the  school,  presiding,  spoke  of  the  purpose  for  which  the 
meeting  was  called,  and  the  work  such  an  association  might 
do.  It  would  be  the  means  of  keeping  the  graduates  in  touch 
with  the  school,  and  not  only  enlarge  its  influence,  but  afford 
opportunities  for  the  development  of  individual  work  among 
the  members.  Much  interest  was  manifested  by  those  present, 
and  all  entered  heartily  into  the  plan.  Two  committees  were 
appointed,  one  to  draw  up  a  constitution  and  the  by-laws, 
consisting  of  Mrs.  Eleanor  Moss,  Chairman,  Miss  Emily 
Stanley,  Miss  Jessie  Pearson,  Miss  Grace  J.  Russell,  and 
Miss  Charlotte  Baxter.  The  other,  a  membership  committee, 
was  to  see  that  all  graduates  of  the  Sargent  Industrial  School, 
who  were  not  in  attendance,  were  notified  of  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  Alumnae  Association,  its  purpose  be  explained  to 
them,  and  their  help  and  interest  solicited. 

The  following  officers  were  elected  for  one  year: 

President,  Miss  Nancy  M.  Lament. 

Vice-  President,  Miss  May  Baxter. 

Secretary,  Miss  A.  Helena  Pralatowska. 

Treasurer,  Miss  Frances  Barhyte. 

At  a  meeting  held  June  1,  19OO,  the  constitution,  which 
had  been  drawn  up  by  the  committee  and  approved  by  Mrs. 
Sargent,  was  read  by  the  secretary,  and  heartily  endorsed  by 
all  present,  there  being  fifty-one  members  who  signed  it  at 
that  time. 

The  first  work  that  was  planned  was  the  preparation  for 


APPENDIX  67 

the  Founder's  Day  exercises,  held  June  16,  190O.  This  work 
was  carried  through  very  successfully,  and  as  the  complete 
programme  was  printed  in  connection  with  the  by-laws  and 
constitution  in  the  booklets,  which  were  so  kindly  presented 
to  us  by  Mrs.  Sargent,  it  is  not  necessary  to  give  a  detailed 
account  of  it. 

In  going  over  the  record  of  the  five  years'  work  of  the 
association,  it  was  found  that  the  preparation  for  the  exer- 
cises for  Founder's  Day  has  been  the  first  work  of  each  new 
executive  committee,  and  the  pleasing  programmes  we  have 
had  at  each  return  of  the  day  are  an  evidence  of  the  untiring 
work  of  the  officers  and  their  assistants. 

The  members  have  also  had  an  opportunity  to  help  in  the 
Prize  Day  exercises  by  furnishing  cake,  acting  as  waitresses, 
or  helping  in  any  way  where  they  could  be  of  use. 

At  the  following  meeting,  held  June  26,  19OO,  it  was 
decided  that  the  association  hold  a  regular  monthly  meeting, 
the  third  Thursday  of  each  month. 

As  an  association  we  felt  that  the  sooner  some  definite 
work  was  planned,  the  better  it  would  be  for  us.  The  ques- 
tion of  cooperating  with  the  Village  Improvement  Associ- 
ation was  discussed.  This  seemed  to  us  a  wide  field  for  work, 
and  one  that  should  appeal  to  each  member.  At  the  request 
of  our  director,  Mrs.  Sargent,  the  Village  Improvement  As- 
sociation appointed  the  Alumnae  a  Vigilance  Committee  to 
work  in  connection  with  them,  especially  in  the  matter  of 
"keeping  the  poles  about  the  villages  free  from  advertise- 
ments and  the  streets  clear  of  papers."  The  Village  Improve- 
ment Association  also  expressed  a  need  for  more  cans  to  be 
placed  about  the  streets,  and  the  Alumnae  planned  to  help 
them  in  this  matter  by  giving  an  entertainment,  the  proceeds 
of  which  were  to  be  used  for  that  purpose. 

Work  then  began  in  earnest :  a  minstrel  performance  was 


68  APPENDIX 

planned,  the  preparation  of  which  required  a  great  deal  of 
time  and  hard  work,  but  when  the  performance  was  given  on 
the  evening  of  April  1,  1901,  I  am  sure  that  not  one  mem- 
ber felt  that  their  labor  had  been  in  vain,  but  were  fully  repaid 
for  the  winter's  work.  The  Academy  not  being  large  enough 
to  accommodate  in  one  evening  all  those  who  wished  to  at- 
tend, the  performance  was  repeated  the  following  Saturday. 

The  receipts  for  both  nights  were  $559.75;  total  expendi- 
tures, $225.14;  leaving  a  balance  of  $334.61. 

The  sum  of  $151.11  was  given  to  the  Village  Improve- 
ment Association. 

The  treasurer's  report  at  the  end  of  the  first  year  showed 
a  balance  of  $13.96  in  the  treasury. 

1901 

At  a  meeting  held  April  25, 1901,  the  officers  elected  for  the 
ensuing  year  were  the  following: 

President,  Miss  A.  Helena  Pralatowska. 

Vice-President,  Miss  Alice  Taylor. 

Secretary,  Miss  Grace  J.  Russell. 

Treasurer,  Miss  Charlotte  Baxter. 

The  Alumnae  Association  was  allowed  the  privilege  of 
using  the  school  grounds,  to  have  games  or  anything  that 
might  add  to  its  pleasure  while  there.  A  lawn  swing,  a  ham- 
mock, and  a  set  of  croquet  being  placed  there  by  them,  also 
lawn  seats  that  were  given  to  us  by  Mrs.  Sargent. 

After  careful  consideration  it  was  voted  to  buy  a  piano,  and 
a  committee  consisting  of  Mrs.  Sargent,  Miss  Helena  Prala- 
towska, Miss  E.  Pearl  Van  Voorhis,  and  Miss  Josephine 
Badeau  (now  Mrs.  Terwilliger) ,  was  appointed  to  make  the 
selection.  The  price  of  the  piano  was  $325.OO. 

The  amount  in  the  treasury  not  being  sufficient  to  purchase 
it  outright,  a  second  minstrel  performance  was  planned  to  raise 


APPENDIX  69 

the  necessary  sum.  This  also  proved  a  great  success,  so  that  the 
fame  of  the  S.  I.  S.  Minstrels  reached  our  neighbors  across 
the  river,  who  sent  such  urgent  requests  to  have  the  perform- 
ance repeated  in  the  Academy  of  that  place,  that  the  mem- 
bers thought  it  advisable  to  do  so.  The  proceeds  for  that 
night's  performance  were  divided  between  the  hospitals  of  our 
two  villages,  each  institution  receiving  $30.  The  total  receipts 
for  the  two  nights'  performances  at  Fishkill  Landing  were 
$523.35;  expenses,  $233.14,  leaving  a  balance  of  $290.21. 

During  this  year  the  physical  culture  classes  were  organ- 
ized, the  association  being  very  fortunate  in  securing  Mrs. 
Salman,  of  Newburgh,  as  teacher,  and  too  much  cannot  be 
said  in  praise  of  her  most  excellent  work.  Miss  Charlotte  Bax- 
ter was  appointed  a  committee  to  take  charge  of  the  finances 
and  arrangements  of  the  classes,  and  served  in  this  capacity 
for  two  years,  being  succeeded  by  Miss  Anna  McEvoy,  who 
served  one  year,  she  in  turn  being  succeeded  by  Miss  Anna 
Keating.  A  great  deal  of  credit  is  due  these  girls,  as  there  is 
a  vast  amount  of  work  for  them  to  do. 

The  evening  classes  have  to  a  large  extent  been  self-sup- 
porting, Mrs.  Sargent  paying  one-half  of  the  expenses  of  the 
afternoon  classes  until  this  year;  since  then  she  has  paid 
one-half  of  the  rent  for  the  hall.  These  classes  have  shown 
remarkable  progress  each  year.  We  felt  that  they  had  made 
great  strides  when  they  gave  an  exhibition  in  connection  with 
the  minstrels  the  first  year,  but  each  year  has  shown  the  same 
splendid  progress.  The  exhibitions  of  the  second  and  third 
years  were  given  in  Metropolitan  Hall,  and  were  very  delight- 
ful occasions.  The  one  given  last  year  was  repeated  on  the 
evening  of  Mrs.  Sargent's  birthday  as  a  gift  to  her  from  the 
girls. 

This  year  the  advanced  classes  reached  the  time  when  the 
gymnasium  apparatus  was  needed,  and  the  association  de- 


70  APPENDIX 

cided  to  buy  part  of  the  necessary  outfit.  The  amount  spent 
was  $50.0O. 

At  the  close  of  the  second  year  the  treasurer  reported  a 
balance  of  $31.56  in  the  treasury. 

1902 

The  third  annual  meeting  for  election  of  officers  was  held  on 
May  13,  1902.  Those  elected  were  the  following: 

President,  Mrs.  Eleanor  Moss. 

Vice- President,  Miss  Louise  Toohey. 

Secretary,  Miss  Margaret  Keating. 

Treasurer,  Miss  May  Baxter. 

As  the  beginning  of  the  school  year  in  September,  19O2, 
was  the  tenth  anniversary  of  Miss  Pearson's  connection  with 
the  school,  the  association  felt  that  it  did  not  want  to  let  it 
pass  without  some  recognition. 

Much  may  be  said  in  favor  of  all  the  teachers  that  have 
been  in  the  school  at  any  time,  but  I  am  sure  that  I  am  voic- 
ing the  sentiment  not  only  of  the  girls  who  have  been  under 
her  direct  supervision,  but  of  all  who  have  come  in  contact 
with  her,  in  the  school  and  the  Alumnae  work,  when  I  say 
that  Miss  .Pearson  has  always  held  and  still  holds  a  large 
place  in  our  hearts.  At  all  times  she  has  been  most  kind  and 
patient,  and  we  owe  much  of  our  success  to  her  wise  coun- 
sels. When  the  proposal  was  made  that  a  reception  be  given 
her  on  her  return  to  school,  it  met  with  a  most  enthusiastic 
response,  and  every  one  did  her  best  to  make  it  a  thoroughly 
enjoyable  and  memorable  occasion. 

As  a  children's  playground  had  been  fitted  up  at  the  cor- 
ner of  South  and  Newburgh  avenues  by  the  Village  Improve- 
ment Association  with  the  money  given  them  by  the  Alum- 
nae, the  care  of  it  was  undertaken  by  the  association,  a  com- 
mittee being  appointed  for  that  work. 


APPENDIX  71 

Two  cake  sales  were  held  during  this  year,  the  committee 
in  charge  soliciting  from  members  not  only  cake,  but  bread, 
biscuit,  or  anything  in  that  line  that  they  cared  to  contribute. 

One  interesting  feature  during  this  and  the  following  year 
was  the  social  held  in  connection  with  the  monthly  meet- 
ing, an  entertainment  committee  being  appointed  for  each 
month. 

The  balance  in  the  treasury  at  the  close  of  this  year  was 
$115.49. 

1903 

The  officers  elected  at  the  annual  meeting  in  1903  were  as 
follows : 

President,  Mrs.  Sadie  Soderbury. 

Vice- President,  Miss  Anna  Keating. 

Secretary,  Miss  Jane  Judson. 

Treasurer,-Miss  Nettie  Fitzsimmons. 

The  association  knowing  of  Mrs.  Sargent's  interest  in  the 
Highland  Hospital,  the  plan  was  suggested  that  each  member 
earn  a  dollar,  or  as  much  as  she  could,  and  give  it  to  Mrs. 
Sargent  on  her  birthday,  to  be  given  by  her  to  the  hospital. 
This  they  decided  to  do,  the  pupils  of  the  school  also  joining 
in  the  work.  It  was  also  suggested  that  they  earn  the  money 
by  making  practical  use  of  the  knowledge  acquired  by  them  at 
the  school,  and  I  feel  sure  that  a  great  many  chapters  might 
be  written  regarding  the  ways  by  which  the  dollars  were 
earned,  and  the  amount  received  is  an  evidence  of  the  earnest- 
ness of  the  effort. 

A  sterilizer  was  purchased  with  this  money,  and  on  the 
plate  is  this  inscription :  "  Given  by  the  Sargent  Industrial 
School,  June  16,  1903." 

A  new  department  was  made  in  the  work  of  the  associ- 
ation this  year.  A  Glee  Club  was  organized,  and  Professor 
Wilkinson  chosen  for  the  instructor.  A  meeting  was  held  on 


72  APPENDIX 

Saturday  of  each  week.  The  membership  was  not  confined 
to  the  Alumnae  alone,  but  included  the  pupils  of  the  school, 
and  some  girls  not  connected  with  either. 

A  very  pleasing  concert  was  given  by  the  club  in  June, 
1904. 

The  subject  of  selecting  a  badge  for  the  association  had 
long  been  discussed,  and  several  designs  had  been  brought 
before  the  members  for  approval,  one  finally  being  chosen, 
having  first  been  approved  by  Mrs.  Sargent.  One  hundred 
of  these  were  bought,  costing  $60.OO. 

At  the  close  of  the  fourth  year  there  was  a  balance  in  the 
treasury  of  $102.34. 

1904 
The  officers  elected  March,  1904,  for  the  ensuing  year  were: 

President,  Mrs.  Ida  B.  Conklin. 

Vice- President,  Miss  Grace  Conklin. 

Secretary,  Miss  Rose  Mitchell. 

Treasurer,  Miss  Mary  Mosher. 

A  lawn  party  was  held  in  August  on  the  school  grounds 
for  the  purpose  of  raising  some  money  to  help  defray  ex- 
penses in  connection  with  the  Glee  Club. 

The  committee  in  charge  worked  very  hard  to  make  this 
a  pleasant  and  attractive  entertainment. 

Through  the  kindness  of  Mr.  John  Donnelly,  the  grounds 
were  beautifully  lighted,  the  attendance  both  nights  being 
very  satisfactory,  and  a  sum  of  $10.39  was  realized. 

The  plan  adopted  in  the  previous  year  of  each  member 
earning  a  dollar  was  again  tried,  and  a  large  sum  was  real- 
ized, which  was  given  to  Mrs.  Sargent  for  the  Highland  Hos- 
pital. A  ward  carriage  and  a  water  sterilizer  were  bought 
this  year. 

Early  in  September,  1904,  preparations  for  a  third  min- 
strel performance  began.  Thanksgiving  Eve  and  night  were 


APPENDIX  73 

chosen  for  the  time  of  giving  it.  The  audience  for  both  nights 
proved  that  the  reputation  gained  by  the  S.  I.  S.  Minstrels 
on  previous  occasions  had  not  been  forgotten,  and  the  same 
hearty  appreciation  was  shown  as  in  other  years.  The  amount 
realized  at  this  time  was  $293.21.  The  association  was  again 
called  upon  to  repeat  the  performance  in  Newburgh,  and 
did  so. 

An  invitation  was  received  each  year  from  the  Matteawan 
State  Hospital  requesting  the  Alumnae  to  repeat  the  minstrel 
performance  for  the  benefit  of  the  inmates  of  that  institution, 
and  the  request  was  complied  with  each  time. 

Just  here  I  want  to  speak  of  Mr.  Ernest  Davies's  kindness 
to  the  Alumnae  Association.  For  three  years  he  worked  most 
faithfully,  instructing  and  training  the  girls,  and  doing  every- 
thing in  his  power  to  make  the  performance  a  success.  He 
entered  heartily  into  the  work  and  did  not  spare  himself  in  any 
way.  And  I  am  sure  that  we  feel  we  owe  much  of  our  success 
to  his  kindness  and  hard  work. 

A  very  important  line  of  work  has  been  started  this  year, 
and  one  that  bids  fair  to  be  far-reaching  in  its  results,  and 
that  is  the  organization  of  a  branch  school  in  connection  with 
the  Sargent  Industrial  School,  at  Tioronda.  There  are  about 
eighty-two  members  enrolled,  and  twenty-four  of  them  are 
boys.  Miss  Pearson,  the  superintendent,  is  assisted  by  Miss 
Riley  and  a  committee  from  the  association  consisting  of 
Miss  Mary  Mosher,  Miss  Julia  Dalton,  Miss  Leonore  Jud- 
son,  Miss  Reba  Carey,  and  Miss  Helena  Pralatowska.  Other 
members  have  been  called  upon  to  help  in  this  work. 

As  the  fifth  anniversary  of  the  association  drew  near,  it 
was  decided  to  celebrate  the  event  on  the  evening  of  April  28, 
1905.  A  committee  was  appointed  for  that  purpose. 

Miss  Pearson,  the  superintendent,  explained  that  in  order 
to  carry  on  the  Tioronda  work  successfully  quite  a  sum  would 


74  APPENDIX 

be  needed.  It  was  then  decided  to  send  envelopes,  to  be  re- 
turned on  the  evening  of  the  celebration,  this  contribution  to 
be  considered  as  a  birthday  gift  to  Mrs.  Sargent. 

At  the  March  meeting  a  motion  was  made  and  carried, 
in  the  form  of  an  amendment  to  the  constitution,  that  the 
annual  election  of  officers  be  changed  from  March  to  June, 
as  this  arrangement  would  give  an  opportunity  for  each  ex- 
ecutive committee  to  complete  whatever  work  was  begun 
during  its  term  of  office. 

In  giving  a  report  in  this  way  of  five  years'  work,  it  can 
only  be  an  outline  at  best.  There  has  been  some  work  at- 
tempted that  we  have  not  been  able  to  carry  through.  This 
is  probably  the  history  of  all  organizations;  but  failure  does 
not  mean  defeat,  and  we  learn  a  great  many  lessons  from 
failures  that  we  would  not  learn  were  we  always  successful. 
There  has  been  a  great  deal  of  honest  effort,  and  that  is  always 
commendable. 

And  now  in  closing,  I  wish  to  thank  our  director,  Mrs. 
Sargent,  for  the  kindness  and  interest  she  has  always  shown 
toward  us,  for  the  substantial  aid  she  has  given  us  from  time 
to  time,  for  her  sympathy  in  our  failures,  and  for  the  plea- 
sure she  has  always  manifested  in  our  successes. 


BRIEF  SUMMARY  OF  THE  WORK  OF  THE 
ALUMNAE:  1905-1916 

1905-1906 

THE  work  at  the  Tioronda  School  was  continued.  A  little 
play, "The  School  at  Blueberry  Corner,"  was  given  by  the 
members  of  the  association  for  the  benefit  of  the  poor  and 
suffering.  The  opening  of  the  beautiful  gymnasium  in  the 
beginning  of  this  year  was  a  source  of  great  delight  to  the 


APPENDIX  75 

girls  and  brought  forth  much  gratitude  and  appreciation.  The 
Alumnae  presented  a  new  piano  and  some  apparatus  to  be 
placed  in  the  gymnasium.  Mrs.  Sargent  encouraged  the  girls 
in  their  efforts  to  form  a  Glee  Club  and  also  a  Dancing  Class. 

1906-1907 

The  work  begun  the  previous  year  was  carried  on.  The 
Glee,  Dramatic,  and  Mandolin  Clubs,  also  the  Dancing  Class, 
had  proved  such  a  source  of  amusement  and  benefit  to  the 
association  that  the  work  was  again  entered  into  with  much 
interest  and  pleasure.  Monthly  receptions  were  held  by  the 
Dancing  Class,  which  were  great  successes. 

1907-1908 

This  year  the  members  of  the  association  decided  to  give 
the  Christmas  Party  they  usually  held  for  themselves  to  the 
poor  children  of  the  two  villages.  Outside  of  the  regular  work 
of  the  association  a  Dickens  Club  was  organized  under  the 
direction  of  Miss  Laura  Roosa. 

1908-1909 

Christmas,  1908,  the  poor  families  instead  of  the  children 
were  remembered  by  the  Alumnae.  Baskets  were  filled  with 
Christmas  goodies  and  delivered  by  the  members  of  the  as- 
sociation. The  work  of  the  Dickens  Club  was  continued  and 
an  entertainment  was  given,  under  Miss  Roosa's  direction, 
which  was  a  success  in  every  way. 

1909-1910 

This  year  the  usual  Hallowe'en  Party  was  somewhat  out 
of  the  ordinary,  inasmuch  as  it  was  planned  to  represent  the 
Hudson-Fulton  Celebration  as  nearly  as  possible.  A  do- 
nation was  presented  to  the  Hudson- Fulton  committee  by 
the  Alumnae  Association.  A  Travel  Class  which  had  been 


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